Ventastega curonica -- Another transitional fish->tetrapod link

Submitted by jay on 25 June, 2008 - 21:51

From Nature's June 26 2008 issue (#453) comes more evidence from the Devonian period that fills in more of the gap in our understanding of the evolution from fish to land animals.

The gap in our understanding of the evolutionary transition from fish to tetrapod is beginning to close thanks to the discovery of new intermediate forms such as Tiktaalik roseae. Here we narrow it further by presenting the skull, exceptionally preserved braincase, shoulder girdle and partial pelvis of Ventastega curonica from the Late Devonian of Latvia, a transitional intermediate form between the 'elpistostegids' Panderichthys and Tiktaalik and the Devonian tetrapods (limbed vertebrates) Acanthostega and Ichthyostega. Ventastega is the most primitive Devonian tetrapod represented by extensive remains, and casts light on a part of the phylogeny otherwise only represented by fragmentary taxa: it illuminates the origin of principal tetrapod structures and the extent of morphological diversity among the transitional forms.

The Associated Press have a story on it, but I don't much want to support them with a link or text considering the job they did on the drudge report.