LIFE SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Tiktaalik fossils reveal how fish evolved into four-legged land animals. The fossilised remains of an ancient beast have revealed how prehistoric life hauled itself from the water and took its first unsteady steps along the path that led to four-legged land animals.

Detailed explanation-2: -Paleontologists have uncovered new fossils from Tiktaalik roseae, which, while still a fish, is considered a transitional fossil that also has traits common to the first four-footed animals. This more complete picture of Tiktaalik suggests that the creature had strong, mobile hind fins.

Detailed explanation-3: -Tiktaalik had an intermediate structure between a fin and a limb as well as an enlarged pelvic bone compared to other fishes of the time, which is helpful for movement on land. Additionally, Tiktaalik had both gills and primitive lung structures, which were necessary to survive on both water and land respectively.

Detailed explanation-4: -Where did Tiktaalik roseae live? It is believed that Tiktaalik did not live completely on land, but instead inhabited the shallows and mudflats of freshwater floodplains (Downs et al., 2008).

Detailed explanation-5: -New analysis of the Tiktaalik fossils explains how animals were able to make the transition from water to land hundreds of millions of years ago. The study was led by Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.