A Brief Spotlight on the Tiktaalik Roseae

-

The Tiktaalik


Image result for Tiktaalik



    The Tiktaalik was a late Devonian era fish that had lungs, a neck that could move, a tetrapod type ribcage, along with fins, scales, and gills. Since the Tiktaalik has components from both land and water animals, this would make it a transitional fossil. People think that the Tiktaalik probably crawled in the sand and muck of shallow freshwater habitats such as swamps, ponds, and lakes. But, people also think that they used their leg-like fins to crawl on land. The name 'Tiktaalik roseae' comes from a benefactor of the research that helped find Tiktaalik fossils in a part Northern Canada back in 2004. The Tiktaalik finds were made up of some nearly complete fossilized skeletons, and a couple dozen partial skeletons.

Tiktaalik - Wikipedia
A partial Tiktaalik skeleton


    Tiktaalik's were usually about 3 to 10 feet in length, and were probably a predator in their habitats, most likely eating fish and small arthropods. The Tiktaaliks were most likely related to another species called Panderichyhs, which are also thought to be a transitional fossil between tetrapods and lobe-finned fishes. The Tiktaalik was an important find because they were one of the missing links in our species' evolution from fish to land animals. Tiktaalik's were one of the first tetrapods (Tetra meaning four, pods meaning legs, or four legs) to actually get out of the water and roam on land. These extinct amphibians mark the earliest known appearance of any tetrapod-type animal in the fossil record.



The Human Edge: Finding Our Inner Fish : NPR







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Canadaspis

-
Image
Canadaspis      Canadaspis was a very odd genus of anthropoid from the Cambrian Era. Today, I'm mainly focusing on Canadaspis Perfecta, but I may cover the other species in the future.  Its name means "Shield of Canada", as it had a large shield type body part that had covered its head. This shield is actually called a carapace.  Canadaspis probably used its legs to crawl on the Cambrian seafloor, scavenging plants or smaller animals. Most Canadaspis' are found in the Burgess Shale in Canada but they can be found in areas like Utah, Nevada, and China.     Canadaspis most likely used its multiple legs to stir up the sediment on the seafloor, in turn kicking up possible food and directing it into their mouth(s?). They were also likely prey for larger animals, but due to their extremely small size (roughly 47 millimeters long), they probably weren't targeted by large predators such as Anomalocaridia. A Canadaspis compared to  a 1.8-meter tall person ...
Read more

Trilobite Conga Lines

-
Image
  Trilobite Conga Lines      The trilobites were ancient Cambrian arthropods. Their fossils can be found worldwide due to how abundant they were before they went extinct. They thrived from the Cambrian Explosion, where life rapidly evolved to the Devonian era.      Trilobites were one of the most successful early animals, existing for almost 300 million years. The trilobites went extinct around 250 million years ago in the end-Permian extinction. There were many different types of trilobites spanning their 300 million year reign. Different trilobites had different lifestyles, as it is thought that some moved over the seabeds as predators, and others were filter-feeders and scavengers. Most trilobites swam and crawled for transportation, but it is thought that some could have crawled on land. Some even believe it's possible that some species of trilobites moved in herds that looked like conga lines. Trilobite Herds     As stated before, t rilo...
Read more

A Tribute to the Trilobites

-
Image
What were trilobites?     Trilobites were marine arachnomorph arthropods that were first introduced during the Cambrian Explosion in which life evolved rapidly, creating many new species of animals. The trilobites were one of the most successful early animals, existing for nearly 300 million years. The trilobites went extinct about 250 million years ago in the end-Permian extinction. What types of trilobites were there?     There were many different species of trilobites spanning their 300 million year reign. Some include the  "Kainops Invius" from the Early Devonian and the  "Paradoxides sp"  from the late Cambrian. Different types of trilobites had different lifestyles. There were trilobites that moved over the seabed as predators, filter feeders, and scavengers. Others swam and some even crawled on land.  A very well preserved Kainops Invius specimen A Paradoxidae specimen The evolution of the trilobite      As said before, the ...
Read more