Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scientists raised these fish to walk on land
The Verge ^ | August 27, 2014 | Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Posted on 08/27/2014 3:03:48 PM PDT by EveningStar

Raising fish on land seems like the sort of idea you’d get while recovering from general anesthesia. But for three McGill University researchers, it made perfect sense. How else would you find out what behavioral and physiological changes might have taken place when fish first made the move from sea to land over 400 million years ago?

"I used to look at fins and their motion, and I always thought it was so interesting and complex," says Emily Standen, lead author of a study published in Nature today, and an evolutionary biomechanics researcher who now works at the University of Ottawa. "And then I thought, wow, how does that change from a fin to something that might work on land? That’s how this project started."

(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: evolution; fish; mcgilluniversity; senegalbichir
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last
To: keat
McGill University

Snort.

Hey! William Shatner went there! :-D

21 posted on 08/27/2014 4:27:32 PM PDT by EveningStar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Beowulf9

To #19: Which one is Helen Thomas and which one is Nancy Pelosi? So hard to tell the difference.


22 posted on 08/27/2014 4:38:52 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

“These fish have functional lungs and can breathe air,” explains Standen. Dinosaur eels also have gills, but they breathe at the surface regularly to increase their oxygen supply. They also occasionally use their fins to walk on land.


So they found a fish that has already adapted to surviving out of water, and just forced it to do that for a longer period of time than it would prefer. It would be a lot more impressive if they could take a fully aquatic fish and repeat their experiment.


23 posted on 08/27/2014 5:24:25 PM PDT by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar
Hey William Shatner went there!

Oh, I wasn't ripping on the school. It was the gill - fish thing... Never mind.

24 posted on 08/27/2014 6:35:35 PM PDT by keat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar
Hey William Shatner went there!

Oh, I wasn't ripping on the school. It was the gill - fish thing... Never mind.

25 posted on 08/27/2014 7:21:05 PM PDT by keat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: keat

OK. Now I get it. :)


26 posted on 08/28/2014 9:14:19 AM PDT by EveningStar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson