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续#713 -- 大淡水鱼
2004年大淡水鱼被发现,2006年4月称为自然杂志的封面人物闪亮登场,一夜之间成了大明星。Shubin等人在这期《自然》的文章所说:
The relationship of limbed vertebrates (tetrapods, 四足类--拥有四肢或附属肢体的脊椎动物) to lobe-finned fish (sarcopterygians,肉鳍鱼) is well established, but the origin of major tetrapod features has remained obscure for lack of fossils that document the sequence of evolutionary changes. Here we report the discovery of a well-preserved species of fossil sarcopterygian fish from the Late Devonian of Arctic Canada that represents an intermediate between fish with fins and tetrapods with limbs, and provides unique insights into how and in what order important tetrapod characters arose. Although the body scales, fin rays, lower jaw and palate are comparable to those in more primitive sarcopterygians, the new species also has a shortened skull roof, a modified ear region, a mobile neck, a functional wrist joint, and other features that presage tetrapod conditions. The morphological features and geological setting of this new animal are suggestive of life in shallow-water, marginal and subaerial habitats.
Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish, pg. 24: “It took us six years to find it, but this fossil confirmed a prediction of palaeontology: not only was the new fish an intermediate between two different kinds of animal, but we had found it also in the right time period in earth’s history and in the right ancient environment. The answer came from 375-million year-old rocks, formed in ancient streams.”
我们提出这种动物是专门生活在浅海地区的假设,也许是沼泽地区,也许是一些池塘。它们偶尔也许会使用非常特化的鳍来上岸。这是非常重要的一点,这种动物正在发展的特征最终可以让动物在陆地上发展。 ”
——泰德·德斯科勒
Richard Dawkins, in his latest book The Greatest Show on Earth,6 claims “Tiktaalik is the perfect missing link—perfect, because it almost exactly splits the difference between fish and amphibian, and perfect because it is missing no longer.
Jennifer Clack: Although humans do not usually think of themselves as fishes, they nonetheless share several fundamental characters that unite them inextricably with their relatives among the fishes … Tetrapods did not evolve from sarcopterygians [lobe-finned fishes]; they are sarcopterygians, just as one would not say that humans evolved from mammals; they are mammals
简单讲,大淡水鱼的重大意义不单单在于找到鱼与脊椎动物之间的重要过渡证据--其实者也暗示者人类不单是从猴子进化而来,人类也是从鱼类来的。同样重要的是,淡水鱼的发现是科学家们根据预测,在正确的地点找到了正确的时间的化石!
2004年大淡水鱼被发现,2006年4月称为自然杂志的封面人物闪亮登场,一夜之间成了大明星。Shubin等人在这期《自然》的文章所说:
The relationship of limbed vertebrates (tetrapods, 四足类--拥有四肢或附属肢体的脊椎动物) to lobe-finned fish (sarcopterygians,肉鳍鱼) is well established, but the origin of major tetrapod features has remained obscure for lack of fossils that document the sequence of evolutionary changes. Here we report the discovery of a well-preserved species of fossil sarcopterygian fish from the Late Devonian of Arctic Canada that represents an intermediate between fish with fins and tetrapods with limbs, and provides unique insights into how and in what order important tetrapod characters arose. Although the body scales, fin rays, lower jaw and palate are comparable to those in more primitive sarcopterygians, the new species also has a shortened skull roof, a modified ear region, a mobile neck, a functional wrist joint, and other features that presage tetrapod conditions. The morphological features and geological setting of this new animal are suggestive of life in shallow-water, marginal and subaerial habitats.
Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish, pg. 24: “It took us six years to find it, but this fossil confirmed a prediction of palaeontology: not only was the new fish an intermediate between two different kinds of animal, but we had found it also in the right time period in earth’s history and in the right ancient environment. The answer came from 375-million year-old rocks, formed in ancient streams.”
我们提出这种动物是专门生活在浅海地区的假设,也许是沼泽地区,也许是一些池塘。它们偶尔也许会使用非常特化的鳍来上岸。这是非常重要的一点,这种动物正在发展的特征最终可以让动物在陆地上发展。 ”
——泰德·德斯科勒
Richard Dawkins, in his latest book The Greatest Show on Earth,6 claims “Tiktaalik is the perfect missing link—perfect, because it almost exactly splits the difference between fish and amphibian, and perfect because it is missing no longer.
Jennifer Clack: Although humans do not usually think of themselves as fishes, they nonetheless share several fundamental characters that unite them inextricably with their relatives among the fishes … Tetrapods did not evolve from sarcopterygians [lobe-finned fishes]; they are sarcopterygians, just as one would not say that humans evolved from mammals; they are mammals
简单讲,大淡水鱼的重大意义不单单在于找到鱼与脊椎动物之间的重要过渡证据--其实者也暗示者人类不单是从猴子进化而来,人类也是从鱼类来的。同样重要的是,淡水鱼的发现是科学家们根据预测,在正确的地点找到了正确的时间的化石!