Elpistostege and the origin of the vertebrate hand
- Journal:
- Nature
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1038/s41586-020-2100-8
- Affiliations:
- 3
- Authors:
- 7
Research Highlight
Fossilized fin sheds light on evolution of the hand
© Mark Mawson/Getty
The complete fossil of a four-limbed fish, which existed around 374 million years ago, has provided a key piece of the evolutionary puzzle of how fins evolved into hands.
A team that included researchers from Flinders University in Australia used computed tomography imaging to reveal the bone structure in the pectoral fins of the 1.57-metre-long fossil of Elpistostege watsoni.
They found the species has both carpal wrist bones and parallel-aligned bones that resemble the start of fingers in the human hand, but these come together in the bony spines characteristic of the end of a fish fin.
The structure may have enabled the animal to support some of its weight while moving in shallow water or on land. It is the closest a fin has come in structure to the separate digits seen in four-limbed animals.
References
- Nature 579, 549–554 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2100-8
Institutions | Authors | Share |
---|---|---|
Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Canada | 0.50 | |
Flinders University, Australia | 0.43 | |
South Australian Museum, Australia | 0.07 |