Tiktaalik revisited

A while back I mentioned the fascinating find of an early tetrapod fossil by Neil Shubin and his team. Intermediate between the lobe finned fish (think coelacanths) and the first land living vertebrates, Tiktaalik displays the characteristics of common ancestry which all amphibians, reptiles, birds, monotremes, marsupials and mammals have inherited. Though we may be distant cousins rather than share direct lineage, Tiktaalik and ourselves are a part of the same family.

Shubin's previous talk, interesting though it was, was for his book promotion. Here's a talk which is much more polished. Sit back for an hour and watch good paleontology at work.

Year of Darwin - Neil Shubin, Ph.D.


PS - there is a long intro, so skip to ~0:03:45 for the real start.

Via PZ Myers.