A predicted intermediate form is found

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In summary, a crucial fossil that shows how animals crawled out from the water, evolving from fish into land-loving animals, has been found in Canada.
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A crucial fossil that shows how animals crawled out from the water, evolving from fish into land-loving animals, has been found in Canada.

The creature, described today in Nature1,2, lived some 375 million years ago. Palaeontologists are calling the specimen from the Devonian a true 'missing link', as it helps to fill in a gap in our understanding of how fish developed legs for land mobility, before eventually evolving into modern animals including mankind.

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060403/full/060403-7.html

Paleontologists have uncovered yet another specimen in the lineage leading to modern tetrapods, creating more gaps that will need to be filled. It's a Sisyphean job, working as an evolutionist.

This creature is called Tiktaalik roseae, and it was discovered in a project that was specifically launched to find a predicted intermediate form between a distinctly fish-like organism, Panderichthys, and the distinctly tetrapod-like organisms, Acanthostega and Ichthyostega.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/04/tiktaalik_makes_another_gap.php[/URL]

[QUOTE]Well, here it is in all it's beautiful glory, another piece in the tetrapod origins story has just arrived in two articles in Nature today. ... This is Tiktaalik rosae, a lobe-finned fish from the Late Devonian Fram Formation of Arctic Canada. The key features that make this animal a lobe-finned fish are the limbs which clearly have a humerus that branches out to a radius and ulna, like our own limbs. But Tiktaalik is clearly different. It has foregone a lot of the other lobe-finned fish conditions for characteristics that are much more like a tetrapod. In fact, Tiktaalik is without question the most tetrapod-like sarcopterygian known to date, and it fills an important gap in the fossil record. Clearly, it's can no longer be safely jammed into that "fish" category.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://lancelet.blogspot.com/2006/04/tiktaalik-rosae.html[/url]

Yet another piece of evidence that support evolution.
 
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I'm actually enjoying seeing how quickly this story is being spread around the internet. What would have ordinarily been just another piece of evidence added to what has already been accumulated in support of evolution, I suppose the timing of this discovery has gained this one great popularity on the internet, being touted as "THE" missing link, when it's just another link. But, I'm glad to hear news showing support for rather than ignorance of evolution for a change.
 
  • #3
I was also pleased hearing this discovery discusssed on http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2006/Apr/hour2_040706.html[/URL]. They mentioned they had a high expectation of finding a fossil record of this type, at their chosen site location.


[quote]
The (scientists) targeted Ellesmere Island (in Arctic Canada) after noticing that it was listed in an undergraduate textbook as exposed Devonian rock that had not previously been explored for vertebrate fossils.[/quote]
[url=http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060403/full/060403-7.html]ref[/url]
 
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Related to A predicted intermediate form is found

1. What is an intermediate form?

An intermediate form, also known as a transitional form, is a fossil or living organism that displays characteristics of both earlier and later species. It is considered to be a transitional stage in the evolution of a particular species.

2. How is an intermediate form predicted?

An intermediate form is predicted based on the theory of evolution and the understanding that species gradually change over time. Scientists use evidence from genetics, anatomy, and the fossil record to predict what an intermediate form may have looked like and how it may have behaved.

3. Why is the discovery of an intermediate form significant?

The discovery of an intermediate form provides evidence for the theory of evolution and helps fill in gaps in the fossil record. It also allows scientists to better understand the evolutionary relationships between different species and how they may have evolved over time.

4. How is an intermediate form different from a missing link?

An intermediate form is a transitional species that displays characteristics of both earlier and later species, while a missing link refers to a specific individual fossil that is believed to bridge the gap between two species. Intermediate forms are part of a larger evolutionary process, while missing links are individual pieces of evidence.

5. Has an intermediate form been found for every species?

No, an intermediate form has not been found for every species. The fossil record is incomplete and there are still many gaps in our understanding of past species and their evolutionary history. However, the discovery of new fossils and ongoing research continue to provide more evidence for the existence of intermediate forms.

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