Fish fingers

Fish fingers September 22, 2008

Pan­der­ich­thys is a large mudskipper-like fish that frolicked on the estuaries of Latvia some 385-million years ago. When it was first discovered, it posed a puzzle to the conventional theory that fingers developed from fin radials. That’s because, although it was clearly a transitional fish in many ways, it seemed to lack primitive finger bones.

But a new CT analysis has fixed that, revealing the missing bones buried deep within the fossil. So, another link in the evolutionary chain filled in.

OK not terribly exciting. But a good excuse for a lame pun 🙂


Browse Our Archives

Follow Us!