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Tiny fish that live in temporary puddles in Africa reach sexual maturity faster than any other animal with a backbone, say scientists.

One of the studied species of killifish - Nothobranchius kadleci - started to reproduce at the age of 17 days.

Researchers found that some eggs reached hatching stage in 15 days meaning they also have the shortest minimum generation time in vertebrates.

The results are published in the open access journal EvoDevo<