el ac anth ▁described ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 5 ▁from ▁near ▁Graham st own ▁in ▁South ▁Africa . ▁ ▁Some ▁ 3 0 ▁complete ▁spec im ens ▁of ▁this ▁new ▁species ▁were ▁found ▁in ▁the ▁black ▁sh ale ▁l ager st ätte ▁on ▁Water lo o ▁Farm , ▁preserved ▁by ▁the ▁mud ▁of ▁an ▁ancient ▁est u ary ▁d ating ▁back ▁to ▁the ▁Fam enn ian ▁stage ▁of ▁the ▁Late ▁Dev onian ▁some ▁ 3 6 0 ▁million ▁years ▁ago . ▁In ▁an ▁article ▁published ▁in ▁the ▁Zo ological ▁Journal ▁of ▁the ▁Lin ne an ▁Society ▁and ▁joint ly ▁author ed ▁by ▁pale ont olog ists ▁Michael ▁Co ates ▁of ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Chicago ▁and ▁Robert ▁G ess ▁from ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁the ▁Wit w aters rand , ▁the ▁find ▁is ▁described ▁as ▁the ▁earliest ▁co el ac anth ▁to ▁be ▁discovered ▁from ▁Africa . ▁G ess ▁first ▁identified ▁co el ac anth ▁remains ▁from ▁this ▁local ity ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁but ▁these ▁were ▁poor ly ▁preserved ▁and ▁un su itable ▁for ▁formal ▁description . ▁Sub sequ ent ▁work ▁produced ▁many ▁more ▁spec im ens , ▁some ▁preserved ▁in ▁fine ▁detail . ▁According ▁to ▁the ▁authors ▁it ▁is ▁the ▁Dev onian ▁co el ac anth ▁most ▁similar ▁to ▁the ▁hypoth et ical ▁ancest or ▁of ▁modern ▁co el ac anth s ▁- ▁its ▁foss il ▁remains ▁lie ▁a ▁mere ▁ 1 0 0   km ▁from ▁the ▁mouth ▁of ▁the ▁Chal um na ▁River , ▁where