A newfound beast with swim fins and a head like a crocodile fills an evolutionary gap between fish and four-legged land animals.
The creature had gills, a fish-like jaw, and scales. But its mobile neck let it lift its head above water, and it could support its own weight on thick ribs and wrist-like bones. It may have even trudged across mudflats in the manner of four-legged animals, called tetrapods.
"I would say it's a key transitional form in the fish-to-land animal transition," said study co-author Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago. "It has features of both fish and tetrapods - we call it a 'fishapod.'"
Fish push-ups. [my em]
...
Just shut the fuck up.
No comments:
Post a Comment