A 50-million-year-old fossil captures a swimming school of ...
Analysis of a fossilized fish shoal suggests that animals may have evolved coordinated group movement around 50 million years ago.
www.sciencenews.orgRecent coverage on shoaling and schooling is mostly about how and why fish group together, not a major breaking-news story. The newest item in the results says schooling fish can save a lot of energy in turbulent water, with one 2024 study finding up to 79% lower energy use compared with solitary fish.[4]
What’s new
- A 2025 article revisits the difference between shoaling and schooling, emphasizing that shoaling is a loose grouping while schooling is a tightly synchronized formation.[1]
- The same piece highlights that schooling helps with predator avoidance, feeding, migration, resting, and spawning.[1]
- A 2025 report challenges a long-held idea that fish always save energy by swimming in neat formations, suggesting the real picture is more complex.[3]
- Fossil evidence and older studies continue to support that shoaling behavior is ancient, going back at least 50 million years.[2][7]
Practical takeaway
If you meant “latest news” in the sense of recent science, the main update is that researchers now think schooling is not just about safety; it can also reduce the cost of swimming in rough water. If you meant current events about a specific fish species or a different “Shoaling and schooling,” tell me the exact topic and I can narrow it down.[4]