The emergence of life on land was one of the most important moments in the grand saga of life’s evolutionary history. Many of the characteristics of our bodies– like our arms, legs, hips, hands, fingers, and necks– can be traced back to adaptations that occurred during the transition from fish to amphibians. But how do we know that? What evidence exists from this time that can help us piece together the sequence of events that led our ancestors out of the water and onto land?

Neil Shubin is a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and an award winning science communicator whose fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic is helping piece together some of the most important transitions in the history of life. He’s the Robert R Bensley Distinguished Service Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. He’s also the author of several books, including Your Inner Fish, The Universe Within, Some Assembly Required, and a new book entitled Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, The Cosmos, and Our Future. His team has discovered several important fossils that have helped biologists better understand how fish evolved into land animals.

Neil Shubin’s Lab at the University of Chicago: https://shubinlab.uchicago.edu/

Neil Shubin’s new book, Ends of the Earth:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/692649/ends-of-the-earth-by-neil-shubin/

Interactive 3D model of Tiktaalik fossil:

https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/tiktaalik-fossil-body

Qikiqtania - fossil fish that returned from land to water

https://shubinlab.uchicago.edu/2022/07/20/meet-qikiqtania-a-fossil-fish-with-the-good-sense-to-stay-in-the-water-while-others-ventured-onto-land/

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