That would've been funnier and more apropos had it been an ark...
Cheers!
Posted on 04/05/2006 10:32:31 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a species that provides the missing evolutionary link between fish and the first animals that walked out of water onto land about 375 million years ago. The newly found species, Tiktaalik roseae, has a skull, a neck, ribs and parts of the limbs that are similar to four-legged animals known as tetrapods, as well as fish-like features such as a primitive jaw, fins and scales.
These fossils, found on Ellesmere Island in Arctic Canada, are the most compelling examples yet of an animal that was at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod transition. The new find is described in two related research articles highlighted on the cover of the April 6, 2006, issue of Nature.
"Tiktaalik blurs the boundary between fish and land-living animal both in terms of its anatomy and its way of life," said Neil Shubin, professor and chairman of organismal biology at the University of Chicago and co-leader of the project.
Tiktaalik was a predator with sharp teeth, a crocodile-like head and a flattened body. The well-preserved skeletal material from several specimens, ranging from 4 to 9 feet long, enabled the researchers to study the mosaic pattern of evolutionary change in different parts of the skeleton as fish evolved into land animals.
The high quality of the fossils also allowed the team to examine the joint surfaces on many of the fin bones, concluding that the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints were capable of supporting the body-like limbed animals.
"Human comprehension of the history of life on Earth is taking a major leap forward," said H. Richard Lane, director of sedimentary geology and paleobiology at the National Science Foundation. "These exciting discoveries are providing fossil 'Rosetta Stones' for a deeper understanding of this evolutionary milestone--fish to land-roaming tetrapods."
One of the most important aspects of this discovery is the illumination of the fin-to-limb transition. In a second paper in the journal, the scientists describe in depth how the pectoral fin of the fish serves as the origin of the tetrapod limb.
Embedded in the fin of Tiktaalik are bones that compare to the upper arm, forearm and primitive parts of the hand of land-living animals.
"Most of the major joints of the fin are functional in this fish," Shubin said. "The shoulder, elbow and even parts of the wrist are already there and working in ways similar to the earliest land-living animals."
At the time that Tiktaalik lived, what is now the Canadian Arctic region was part of a landmass that straddled the equator. It had a subtropical climate, much like the Amazon basin today. The species lived in the small streams of this delta system. According to Shubin, the ecological setting in which these animals evolved provided an environment conducive to the transition to life on land.
"We knew that the rocks on Ellesmere Island offered a glimpse into the right time period and the right ancient environments to provide the potential for finding fossils documenting this important evolutionary transition," said Ted Daeschler of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, a co-leader of the project. "Finding the fossils within this remote, rugged terrain, however, required a lot of time and effort."
The nature of the deposits where the fossils were found and the skeletal structure of Tiktaalik suggests the animal lived in shallow water and perhaps even out of the water for short periods.
"The skeleton of Tiktaalik indicates that it could support its body under the force of gravity whether in very shallow water or on land," said Farish Jenkins, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University and co-author of the papers. "This represents a critical early phase in the evolution of all limbed animals, including humans--albeit a very ancient step."
The new fossils were collected during four summers of exploration in Canada's Nunavut Territory, 600 miles from the North Pole, by paleontologists from the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the University of Chicago and Harvard University. Although the team has amassed a diverse assemblage of fossil fish, Shubin said, the discovery of these transitional fossils in 2004 was a vindication of their persistence.
The scientists asked the Nunavut people to propose a formal scientific name for the new species. The Elders Council of Nunavut, the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, suggested "Tiktaalik" (tic-TAH-lick)--the word in the Inuktikuk language for "a large, shallow water fish."
The scientists worked through the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth in Nunavut to collaborate with the local Inuit communities. All fossils are the property of the people of Nunavut and will be returned to Canada after they are studied.
The team depended on the maps of the Geological Survey of Canada. The researchers received permits from the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth of the Government of Nunavut, and logistical support in the form of helicopters and bush planes from Polar Continental Shelf Project of Natural Resources Canada. The National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society, along with an anonymous donor, also helped fund the project.
You're a condesceding arrogant ass, but suprisingly a testament to flaws in the evolution theory. So maybe you do serve a purpose. Thanks for the sexist knitting links. Actually I gave that up years ago in order to spend more time exploring why some men never quite evolved. Ever so often another one surfaces. If you need some freshly knitted socks, freepmail me. You may not need them with all the hair on your feet, but you never know!
Vade, everytime I see that photo, I have a brief but instantaneous impression that the mudskipper had just gnawed through the tree it is sitting on.
The missing link between fish and beaver.
Cheers!
I suspect that once you have an intelligent lifeform messing with genomes and inserting here and there, and fiddling around with viruses in the oceans, all our older "models" turn into so much poop.
Whether or not there was ever an Intelligent Designer, there is now, and God help him, eh?!
FSM ping! ;-)
Some sharks.
There are also snakes that give live birth..
Some snakes.
Big difference.
Maybe in your mind however he constituted theory using the method of science. The method of science is observation of a material fact, evidence and emperical evidence of the fact and a explination of the fact. Theories are composed of facts and laws. It is not the model of evolution.
Details? Proposed mechanism?
If you want to point me to a link (no pun intended), that's fine. But I'm not doing this for flamebait--if you wish send me a private freepmail and I'll explain my question in greater detail...
Cheers!
Hey, you're an analogy kind of guy. I like that! They really are a useful means of communication.
I enjoy writing, and have completed a manuscript that I would love to have published. Right now I am editing. So, this analogy makes complete sense to me, as I went through this very process.
Thank you. That is an interesting way of explaining this perspective.
There's currently a debate between "scientific true believers" and "noncommital scientists".
Define what a "noncommital scientist" is and provide evidence there is: 1) a significant number of them (how many are there?); and 2) that there is a debate taken seriously by at least a majority of the scientific community.
On that we agree. It explains a material fact. It is of a higher order of either faith, belief, opinion, or fact. Thats why theories are accepted over faith, belief, opinion, and fact. Maybe you should look up the definition of theory as it applies to evolution.
I don't think he's actually interested in the definition of words. He's made it clear that he'd rather be ignorant.
Not worth the time. How do you have a conversation with someone who choses fanaticism over facts?
And here we go...as if on cue!
...and that's my cue.
1 diatribe = 2 unitribes. (rim shot)
Cheers!
It's coincidental that his methods resemble the modern approach.
Where he stepped off the planet was with his sexual selection theories ~ although they are still popular, other, more rational bases for the observations keep getting thought up. Remember, for Darwin, long separations from his wife may have given him a lot of ideas. With the animals, it's simply chemistry.
That would've been funnier and more apropos had it been an ark...
Cheers!
"Remember, for Darwin, long separations from his wife may have given him a lot of ideas."
When did he have long separations from his wife?
I think it's a great idea.
You are correct and there are plenty of them all over the world. They stopped progress for thousands of years. Hope they don't get control again. They would suppress any new knowledge.
Thanks for the posting and the ping.
I didn't think you would, or could.
"Must make you proud inventing such an ignorant strawman argument."
Call me stupid (which I'm certain you will), but I thought is was witty and funny.
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