An Ancient Fish’s Four-Wheel Drive

Caroline Maxwell
Period 1

Summary: The Tiktaalik was a type of fish that lived around 375 million years ago. It was a mix between a fish and a crocodile and could get as long as nine feet long. The Tiktaalik lived in the shallow waters of Northern Canada. It began adapting and eventually it began to develop four limbs, enabling it to walk on land. Fossils have been found recently, and the "pelvic girdle" was stronger, which is a great sign that the fish developed hind legs. Other than the legs, the fish was also evolving in many other places. Their brain was changing, longer necks began to develop, and the Tiktaalik had primitive lungs. These newly found fossils have expanded their knowledge of how this extinct animal evolved to a land creature.

Connection: In order to look at the evolution of the Tiktaalik, scientists used anatomy. From this they say how the fish could have legs and had evolved into the animal it was before extinction. If they had not found these fossils, then scientists would not had the information to make the connections that they have made. People did not know how or when the transition from water animal to land animal occurred, but with the help of these fossils we are much more informed. Anatomy played a huge roll in the finding out of this information, which is one of the factors of evolution that we studied in class.

Author: John Noble Wilford
Published: Jan. 13, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/science/an-ancient-fishs-four-wheel-drive.html?_r=0