Chapter 2

I agree with Sasha, this chapter did teach me a lot about life millions of years ago. The connections and discoveries between humans and fish are very interesting. It seems as if the different fish such as: the lungfish, the Eusthenopteron, and the Tiktaalik all contain features similar to that of humans’. But these are all separate fishes; his argument of humans being connected to fish would be easier to agree with if he was using a fish with more than just one or two similar features. I did like the section about the importance of hands. I didn’t really think much of my hands until I read this section. Our hands really are a signature of what we are. Shubin said himself, “Our ability to grasp, to build, and to make our thoughts real lies inside this complex of bones, nerves, and vessels” (pg. 29). That’s how important our hands are and how much we achieve with them. One thing that was really fascinating to me was the fact that the tiktaalik can do push-ups. It’s intriguing to know that an ancient fish can push-ups and finds it necessary to do in its environment. I can barley do a couple of push-ups myself before I get tired and I know others that struggle to do just one push up, and to know that a fish can do them their fins in the water is pretty amazing.

-Julia Valencia :D