Tiltaalik: One of the Most Important Fossils Ever Discovered

#Tiltaalik!

One of the most important fossils ever discovered, this 375 mya sarcopterygian, “flesh fin,” lived during the Age of Fish.

We always see it small but pieces suggest it grew up to 9’ long. Imagine a 9’ down crawling in mud.

Multiple specimens have been found on Ellesmere Island in Canada. It was named in 2006 from an amazing specimen that preserved a #fish with structures that let it possibly cross muddy sections of land.

A member of the #Osteichthyes, the bony fish, it has a pectoral girdle and ribs that suggest it could support itself on its forelimbs and a breathing shift that enabled it to breathe air for a bit. The pizza-slice head reminds me of later amphibians.

It lacks an opercular, and numerous skeletal bits show a large shift in breathing style.

I never like using the term “missing link,” as evolution is a continuous process, no one point in time tends to encapsulate the future as clearly as I’d like it to.

However, this is a great transitional taxon. The skeleton represents a moment in time where an animal that, though it could clearly swim, could also get along on land.

To an observer in the #Devonian, it’s arms would have seemed odd in comparison to the multitude of fish about. However, armed with the knowledge of how the future works out, those arms seem plenty important :-).

You know the Houston Museum of Natural Science has a bevy of beautiful beasts when the legendary #Tiktaalik is in a remote corner of the building. This superstar, in most any other museum, is prominently displayed. Yet such is the astonishing assemblage that is Houston that it is on display in a corner of the museum. Be sure to seek it out when you visit!

#FossilCrates