A modeled reconstruction of Elmosteus, a new fossil fish from Manitoba.

CTV Winnipeg: Prehistoric fish discovered in Manitoba

July 9, 2025 —

Move over Jurassic Park, say hello to 390 million years old Elmosteus lundarensis.

A major UM breakthrough is making waves in the paleontology world lead by team led Dr. Melina Jobbins, postdoctoral fellow at the PaleoSed+ lab in the Department of Earth Sciences of the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources.

Dr. Jobbins unearthed this new genus of placoderm (plate + skin) fish right here in Lake Manitoba near Lundar, Manitoba.

This fish is one of our oldest ancestors with jaws and will help us to understand the origins of jaws and teeth in the evolution of life.

Jobbins says while this is the first of its kind in Manitoba, she suspects there are some in North Dakota, and even in Saskatchewan.

If you want to see the fossils of this new fish in person go check them out at the Geological Sciences Museum, next to the Ed Leith Cretaceous Menagerie, in the Wallace Building on the Fort Gary Campus. The museum is open 8:30-4:30 on weekdays.

Dr. Jobbins spoke with CTV about the discovery. To watch the story, please follow the link to CTV Winnipeg.

Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Faculty of Graduate Studies

New York Times: Is This Polar Bear Town Canada’s Key to the Arctic?

Ice has been shrinking in Hudson Bay, making it navigable to ships for about five months a year, or about one month more than in the 1980s, said Dr. Feiyue Wang, Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) at the Department of Environment and Geography and Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba.

Cracking the code of Thwaites ice shelf’s disintegration

A new study led by researchers from the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Earth Observation Science provides the most detailed account yet of how the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf in West Antarctica has progressively disintegrated over the past two decades.