Chapter TWO: Getting a Grip

So now that Shubin has explained where we come from, he tells us how our bones structure came to be. I like that in every chapter he has a story to tell that brings us closer to him. I was really stunned that he had a connection with the cadaver's hand. But that lead him to explain how our hands came to evolve.

Going back to the 1800's of Sir Richard Owen and Charles Darwin's time helped me learn more about the evolution of our limbs. Owen's discovery of one bone, two bone, blobs, then fingers or toes was remarkable, I didn't believe that we were in some way related to bats or horses, but when I saw the diagram it made sense. And again in this chapter Shubin's diction, syntax, and diagrams helped me understand what he was saying.

When Owen found the lung fish and Eusthenpteron I was SO AMAZED, it helped the search of human evolution, i felt sad that it knees and elbows were facing the same way, poor thing. When they found the fin of Tiktaalik I was hoping that the question of our limbs could be answered, and it was :) IT WAS THE FIRST FISH WITH A WRIST. The fact that it could do push-ups was incredible, i could just imagine Tiktaalik doing push-ups with all his non-shoulder, elbow, and wrist buddies watching him with envy. HAHA.

My favorite sentence of this chapter was on pg. 41 "There isn't just a single fish inside of our limbs; there is a whole aquarium". This just made me laugh. It just summarized into simple, plain, kid words, how our limbs work. And i can't believe we came from reptiles and amphibians.

And now that I type i think of Tiktaalik, and how this wouldn't be possible without him/her/it.

- Nikita Patel