Neil Shubin (U. Chicago): Finding Tiktaalik, the Fossil Link Between Fish and Land Animals

https://www.ibiology.org/evolution/ti... Ever since he was a graduate student, Neil Shubin has been obsessed with finding fossils of the creature that marked the transition from fish to land dwelling animals. He explains how he scoured maps to find rocks of the right age and type that were accessible at the earth’s surface. This led him to the Canadian arctic where, in 2004, Shubin and his colleagues found Tiktaalik, a fossil of a creature with features found in both fish and tetrapods. Tiktaalik was the link between fish and land animals. Speaker Biography: Dr. Neil Shubin is an author and Professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. Shubin’s research focuses on understanding the evolutionary origins of new anatomical features such as limbs. Shubin is well known for his discovery of Tiktaalik roseae,the 375 million year old fossil link between fish and tetrapods. Shubin is an elected member of the National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.