Why is the Tiktaalik roseae important?

Why is the Tiktaalik roseae important?

Tiktaalik roseae, better known as the “fishapod,” is a 375 million year old fossil fish which was discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004. So, the existence of tetrapod features in a fish like Tiktaalik is significant because it marks the earliest appearance of these novel features in the fossil record.

What kind of environment did the Tiktaalik live in?

Tiktaalik lived in marshy river settings resembling today’s Amazon. Up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) long, the lobed fish hunted like a freshwater crocodile in rivers and inlets, and had a surprisingly agile neck and primitive lungs.

What does Tiktaalik roseae the Fishapod tell us about how tetrapods evolved from fish?

Why is Tiktaalik called the “fishapod”? Tiktaalik shares anatomical features with both primitive fish and the first tetrapods. These features in Tiktaalik show that many of the body features we associate with the earliest tetrapods actually evolved in fish first.

What was so special about Tiktaalik fin?

Its fins have thin ray bones for paddling like most fish, but they also have sturdy interior bones that would have allowed Tiktaalik to prop itself up in shallow water and use its limbs for support as most four-legged animals do.

What adaptations did Tiktaalik roseae have that reflected its habitat?

Because Tiktaalik could move its head independently, it had the ability to raise its head above the water, making it easier for Tiktaalik to snap at its prey above water, which is more efficient than underwater (Owen, 2006). Read more about the body structure of Tiktaalik in Adaptations!

What important step in evolution did Tiktaalik demonstrate?

The discovery of well-preserved pelves and a partial pelvic fin from Tiktaalik roseae, a 375 million-year-old transitional species between fish and the first legged animals, reveals that the evolution of hind legs actually began as enhanced hind fins.

How did Tiktaalik survive in the cold Arctic environment?

Having a neck enabled the head to move independently from the neck, enabled Tiktaalik to transition from having gills to not having gills, and enhanced movement. This caused Tiktaalik to change their habitat from deep waters to shallow waters.

What special adaptations did Tiktaalik?

Not only were the fins of Tiktaalik well adapted to living in the shallows, but also the distal part of the body to the head was able to flex slightly upward (Ahlberg and Clack, 2006). The fins of Tiktaalik allowed it to live in a variety of different substrates (Shubin et al., 2006).

Why is Tiktaalik considered a transitional fossil?

Why is Tiktaalik considered a transitional fossil? It is a hybrid of an aquatic and terrestrial vertebrate. If a fossil is found between of two layers of rock with relative dates of 570 mya and 530 mya, what is the approximate age of the fossil? Older than 530 mya, but younger than 570 mya.

What can the Tiktaalik fossil tell you about how present day organisms evolved?

How long ago did Tiktaalik live?

Tiktaalik roseae, an extinct fishlike aquatic animal that lived about 380–385 million years ago (during the earliest late Devonian Period) and was a very close relative of the direct ancestors of tetrapods (four-legged land vertebrates).

What characteristics of the Tiktaalik are tetrapod like?

Tiktaalik retained both fish and tetrapod characteristics. Its fish characteristics include scales, fins, and gills, and its tetrapod characteristics include a neck, ribs capable of bearing weight, a flat head, dorsally positioned eyes, a fin skeleton, and ear notches (The University of Chicago, 2006).