Efforts to restore sturgeon in the Great Lakes region have
received a lot of attention in recent years, and many of the news stories note
that the prehistoric-looking fish are "living fossils" virtually
unchanged for millions of years.
But a new study by University of Michigan researchers and
their colleagues reveals that in at least one measure of evolutionary
change—changes in body size over time—sturgeon have been one of the
fastest-evolving fish on the planet.