Chapter 2 - Drop and Gimme 20!

I liked the introduction to this chapter -- I also find dissecting dead organisms somewhat disgusting. The connection I shared with Shubin helped me discover the importance of an arm, or a hand.

The anatomist Robert Owens discovered a relationship between many diverse creatures - particularly limbs. Although bone structures are obviously different, they all have the same design: one bone, two bones, blobs, and toes. Even though ancient fish did not have the wrist structure land animals had, scientists in South America found fish that had developed lungs, which may have been the first step towards amphibians. While many scientists had found fish such as the Ichthyostega and Acanthostega that were amphibian-like, their bone structure was closer to that of a mammal.

Finally, Shubin's search crew found their answer in Tiktaalik. The Tiktaalik was formed like a fish, yet had wrist bones as well as shoulders and elbows. The wrists helped to do "push-ups" --which I found quite HUMERUS -- off of the ocean floor. Discovering the wrist bone of Tiktaalik formed a vital connection that Shubin needed between water and land animals.

~Megan Hsiao (: