Tiktaalik
From RationalWiki
Tiktaalik is an extinct genus of fish believed to have lived around 375 million years ago. It is commonly held to be a transitional form in the evolution between fish and tetrapods (four legged animals). The animals have been called "the most compelling examples yet of an animal that was at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod transition".[1]
[edit] Related fossils
The transition from water to land is bridged by several transitional fossils, ranging from amphibian-like fish to fish-like amphibians. One research article[2] gives this list (with the caution that, like most things in evolution, there is no simple straight line):
- Eusthenopteron
- Panderichthyes
- Tiktaalik
- Elginerpeton
- Designathus
- Ventastega
- Metaxygnathus
- Acanthostega
- MGUH VP 6088 (not yet described in the literature)
- Ichthyostega
- Watcheeria
- Pederpes
- Greererpeton
- Crassigyrinus
- Baphetes
- Balanerpeton
- Denderpeton
- Silvanerpeton
- Proterogyrinus
- Eoherpeton
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ John Noble Wilford. Scientists Call Fish Fossil the 'Missing Link'.
- ↑ Figure 4d in Per E. Ahlberg, Jennifer A. Clack, Ervns Lukevis, Henning Blom & Ivars Zupi: "Ventastega curonica and the origin of tetrapod morphology". Nature 453, 1199-1204 (26 June 2008). doi: 10.1038/nature06991
