New research says vertebrate limb regeneration has been around for at least 300 million years.

Scientists at the Museum für Naturkunde, also known as the Natural History Museum in Berlin, examined fossils of a primitive amphibian species called Micromelerpeton crederni.

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This distant relative of modern amphibians lived during the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian periods between 310 million and 280 million years ago.

Researchers initially found the fossils in lake deposits in Central Europe. One of these lakes was Lake Odernheim in southwest Germany, Live Science reported.

The animals' remains, including its fine structures like the gills, stomach contents and scale patterns, were preserved in the oxygen-free environment at the bottom of the lakes.

Scientists discovered some of the Micromelerpeton fossils had strange-looking limbs. Some appendages had extra toes and deformed shapes.

These types of anomalies appear to be unusual but can also be seen in living animals, reports said.

Developmental biologist David Gardiner of the University of California Irvine said these same abnormalities are usually observed in modern salamanders that have an ability to fully regenerate in response to injury.

The modern patterns suggest Micromelerpeton also had some regenerative capabilities, Gardiner added.

Gardiner made it clear, however, that although current research indicates that limb regeneration existed about 300 million years ago, it's not yet clear when the ability first evolved.

TagsLimb Regeneration, vertebrates, amphibians, Fossils, Animals