Why do fish school together?
A study across 2,839 ray-finned fish species used models to infer that schooling evolved repeatedly and was lost repeatedly through evolutionary history.
Read the original Cornell storyThe researchers' evolutionary reconstruction estimated roughly 60 independent gains and 320 losses of schooling over about 350 million years. These are model-based estimates, not observed transitions. The study found an association between schooling and a lower position in the food chain, with many exceptions. Wonder Daily links to the original Cornell report so you can explore the methods and full explanation.