Tiktaalik
Tiktaalik (; ) is a monospecific genus of extinct sarcopterygian (lobe-finned fish) from the Late Devonian Period, about 375 Mya (million years ago), having many features akin to those of tetrapods (four-legged animals). Unearthed in Arctic Canada, "Tiktaalik" is a non-tetrapod osteoichthyes, complete with scales and gills – but it has a triangular, flattened head and unusual, cleaver-shaped fins. Its fins have thin ray bones for paddling like most fish, but they also have sturdy interior bones that would have allowed Tiktaalik to prop itself up in shallow water and use its limbs for support as most four -legged animals do. Those fins and a suite of other characteristics set Tiktaalik apart as something special; it has a combination of features that show the evolutionary transition between swimming fish and their descendants, the four-legged vertebrates – a clade which includes amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. This animal and similar animals may possibly be the common ancestors of the broad swath of all vertebrate terrestrial fauna: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The first well-preserved "Tiktaalik" fossils were found in 2004 on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. The discovery, made by Edward B. Daeschler of the Academy of Natural  Sciences, Neil H. Shubin from the University of Chicago, and Harvard University Professor Farish A. Jenkins Jr, was published in the April 6, 2006, issue of "Nature" and quickly recognized as a transitional form. Description. "Tiktaalik" provides insights on the features of the extinct closest relatives of the tetrapods. Unlike many previous, more fishlike transitional fossils, the "fins" of "Tiktaalik" have basic wrist bones and simple rays reminiscent of fingers. The homology of distal elements is uncertain; there have been suggestions that they are homologous to digits, although this is incompatible with the digital arch developmental model because digits are  supposed to be postaxial structures, and only three of the (reconstructed) eight rays of "Tiktaalik" are postaxial. However, the proximal series can be directly compared to the ulnare and intermedium of tetrapods. The fin was clearly weight bearing, being attached to a massive shoulder with expanded scapular and coracoid elements and attached to the body armor, large muscular scars on the ventral surface of the humerus, and highly mobile distal joints. The bones of the forefins show large muscle facets, suggesting that the fin was both muscular and had the ability to flex like a wrist joint. These wrist-like  features would have helped anchor the creature to the bottom in fast moving current. Also notable are the spiracles on the top of the head, which suggest the creature had primitive lungs as well as gills. This attribute would have been useful in shallow water, where higher water temperature would lower oxygen content. This development may have led to the evolution of a more robust ribcage, a key evolutionary trait of land-living creatures. The more robust ribcage of "Tiktaalik" would have helped support the animal's body any time it ventured outside a fully aquatic habitat. "Tiktaalik" also lacked  a characteristic that most fishes have—bony plates in the gill area that restrict lateral head movement. This makes "Tiktaalik" the earliest known fish to have a neck, with the pectoral girdle separate from the skull. This would give the creature more freedom in hunting prey either on land or in the shallows. "Tiktaalik" is sometimes compared to gars (esp. "Atractosteus spatula", the alligator gar) of the family Lepisosteidae, with whom it shares a number of characteristics: Paleobiology. "Tiktaalik" generally had the characteristics of a lobe-finned fish, but with front fins featuring arm-like skeletal structures more akin to  those of a crocodile, including a shoulder, elbow, and wrist. The fossil discovered in 2004 did not include the rear fins and tail. It had rows of sharp teeth indicative of a predator fish, and its neck could move independently of its body, which is not common in other fish ("Tarrasius", "Mandageria", placoderms, and extant seahorses being some exceptions; see also "Lepidogalaxias" and "Channallabes apus"). The animal had a flat skull resembling a crocodile's; eyes on top of its head; a neck and ribs similar to those of tetrapods, with the ribs being used to support its body and  aid in breathing via lungs; well developed jaws suitable for catching prey; and a small gill slit called a spiracle that, in more derived animals, became an ear. The fossils were found in the "Fram Formation", deposits of meandering stream systems near the Devonian equator, suggesting a benthic animal that lived on the bottom of shallow waters and perhaps even out of the water for short periods, with a skeleton indicating that it could support its body under the force of gravity whether in very shallow water or on land. At that period, for the first time, deciduous plants were  flourishing and annually shedding leaves into the water, attracting small prey into warm oxygen-poor shallows that were difficult for larger fish to swim in. The discoverers said that in all likelihood, "Tiktaalik" flexed its proto-limbs primarily on the floor of streams and may have pulled itself onto the shore for brief periods. In 2014, the discovery of the animal's pelvic girdle was announced; it was strongly built, indicating the animal could have used them for moving in shallow water and across mudflats. Neil Shubin and Daeschler, the leaders of the team, have been searching Ellesmere Island for  fossils since 2000 Classification and evolution. "Tiktaalik roseae" is the only species classified under the genus. "Tiktaalik" lived approximately 375 million years ago. It is representative of the transition between non-tetrapod vertebrates (fish) such as "Panderichthys", known from fossils 380 million years old, and early tetrapods such as "Acanthostega" and "Ichthyostega", known from fossils about 365 million years old. Its mixture of primitive fish and derived tetrapod characteristics led one of its discoverers, Neil Shubin, to characterize "Tiktaalik" as a "fishapod". "Tiktaalik" is a transitional fossil; it is to tetrapods what "Archaeopteryx" is to birds, troodonts and dromaeosaurids. While  it may be that neither is ancestor to any living animal, they serve as evidence that intermediates between very different types of vertebrates did once exist. The mixture of both fish and tetrapod characteristics found in "Tiktaalik" include these traits: Phylogenetic position. 2006 – 2010. The phylogenetic analysis by Daeschler et al. placed "Tiktaalik" as a sister taxon to "Elpistostege" and directly above "Panderichthys" preceded by "Eusthenopteron". "Tiktaalik" was thus inserted below "Acanthostega" and "Ichthyostega" as a transitional form and a true "missing link". Such order of the phylogenetic tree was initially adopted by other experts, most notably by Per Ahlberg  and Jennifer Clack. However, it was questioned in a 2008 paper by Boisvert et al., who noted that "Panderichthys", due to its more derived distal portion, might be closer to tetrapods than "Tiktaalik" or even that it was convergent with tetrapods. Ahlberg, co-author of the study, considered the possibility of "Tiktaalik"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s fin having been "an evolutionary return to a more primitive form." 2010 – now. In January 2010, a group of paleontologists including Ahlberg published a paper accompanied by extensive supplementary material (discussed also in a Nature documentary) which showed that the first tetrapods appeared long before "Tiktaalik  and other elpistostegids. Their conclusions were based on numerous trackways (esp. Muz. PGI 1728.II.16) and individual footprints (esp. Muz. PGI 1728.II.1) discovered at the Zachełmie quarry in the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland). A tetrapod origin of those tracks was suggested based on: Track-bearing layers were assigned to the lower-middle Eifelian based on conodont index fossil samples (costatus" Zone) and "previous biostratigraphic data obtained from the underlying and overlying strata" with subsequent studies confirming this dating. Both "Tiktaalik"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s discoverers were skeptical about the Zachelmie trackways. Daeschler said that trace evidence was not enough for him to modify  the theory of tetrapod evolution, while Shubin argued that "Tiktaalik" could have produced very similar footprints (in a later study Shubin expressed a significantly modified opinion that some of the Zachelmie footprints, those which lacked digits, may have been made by walking fish). However, Ahlberg insisted that those tracks could not have possibly been formed either by natural processes or by transitional species such as "Tiktaalik" or "Panderichthys". Instead, the authors of the publication suggested ichthyostegalians as trackmakers, based on available pes morphology of those animals. However, a paper published in 2015 that undertook a critical review of Devonian tetrapod  footprints called into question the designation of the Zachelmie marks and instead suggested an origin as fish nests/feeding traces. An earlier study in 2012 indicated that Zachelmie trackmakers were even more advanced than "Ichthyostega" in terms of quadrupedalism. reconstruction of one of the trackmakers was identical to that of "Tulerpeton". Narkiewicz, co-author of the article on the Zachelmie trackways, claimed that the Polish "discovery has disproved the theory that elpistostegids were the ancestors of tetrapods", a notion partially shared by Philippe Janvier. There have been a number of new hypotheses suggested as to a possible origin and phylogenetic  position of the elpistostegids (including "Tiktaalik"): Convergency is considered responsible for uniquely tetrapod features found also in other non-elpistostegalian fish from the period like Sauripterus (finger-like jointed distal radial bones) or "Tarrasius" (tetrapod-like spine with 5 axial regions). Estimates published after the discovery of Zachelmie tracks suggested that digited tetrapods may have appeared as early as 427.4 Ma ago and questioned attempts to read absolute timing of evolutionary events in early tetrapod evolution from stratigraphy. Until more data become available, the phylogenetic position of "Tiktaalik" and other elpistostegids remains uncertain. Discovery. In 2004, three fossilized "Tiktaalik" skeletons  were discovered in the Late Devonian fluvial Fram Formation on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, in northern Canada. Estimated ages reported at 375 MYA, 379 MYA, and 383 MYA. At the time of the species' existence, Ellesmere Island was part of the continent Laurentia (modern eastern North America and Greenland), which was centered on the equator and had a warm climate. When discovered, one of the skulls was found sticking out of a cliff. Upon further inspection, the fossil was found to be in excellent condition for a 375-million-year-old specimen. The discovery by Daeschler, Shubin, and Jenkins was published  in the April 6, 2006, issue of "Nature" and quickly recognized as a transitional form. Jennifer A. Clack, a Cambridge University expert on tetrapod evolution, said of "Tiktaalik," "It's one of those things you can point to and say, 'I told you this would exist,' and there it is." The name "Tiktaalik" is an Inuktitut word meaning "large freshwater fish". The "fishapod" genus received this name after a suggestion by Inuit elders of Canada's Nunavut Territory, where the fossil was discovered. The specific name "roseae" cryptically honours an anonymous donor. Taking a detailed look at the internal head  skeleton of "Tiktaalik roseae", in the October 16, 2008, issue of "Nature", researchers show how "Tiktaalik" was gaining structures that could allow it to support itself on solid ground and breathe air, a key intermediate step in the transformation of the skull that accompanied the shift to life on land by our distant ancestors. Cultural significance. Internet users have altered an illustration of "Tiktaalik" by artist Zina Deretsky to create memes. The images generally humorously criticize "Tiktaalik" for its evolutionary adaptations, construing them as playing a critical role in the chain of events that would eventually lead to all human  suffering. See also. Other lobe-finned fish found in fossils from the Devonian Period: