Prehistoric fish with abs found in Western Australia Image credit: Government of Western Australia

A shark-like fossilized fish was discovered by scientists in the Kimberley region, West Australia. The prehistoric fish surprisingly had abdominal muscles.

According to New Scientist, the "world's first abs" belonged to the fossilized fish since it is the oldest prehistoric creature with preserved abdominal muscles.

The prehistoric find was discovered by paleontologists from Sweden, France and Australia on the Gogo Formation. This is also the location where an ancient coral reef can be found. More than 50 species of fossilized fish have been discovered in this almost perfectly preserved reef.

Australian paleontologists and their colleagues did not expect the fish to have preserved abdominal muscles since the muscular structure is almost similar to human abs. John Long, a paleontologist at Finders University was interviewed by ABC in connection with the recent scientific find.

Curtin University's Kate Trinajstic said that they were "stunned" to find abs on a fish. The shark-like fossilized fish was also a unique discovery because it was rare for placoderm fossils with soft tissue to remain preserved after so many years.

The seemingly well-preserved fish fossil allowed paleontologists to study the muscular structure of the fish. A placoderm is a type of fish with big jaws and body armor and roamed the ocean much like sharks of modern times do.

Swedish paleontologist, Per Ahiberg of Uppsala University said in the interview that some placoderms were scary-looking and known for being predators. One placoderm named Dunkleostus grew about 33 feet long. Dunkleostus was an ancient giant fish that existed about 360 million years ago. The most popular specimens can be seen at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Queensland, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and American Museum of Natural History.

The prehistoric fish also had armor to protect its head and body. This prehistoric species were usually carnivorous and could possibly be 10 metres in length.

Learn more about ancient armored fish (Placoderms) here: