To Study Evolution, Scientists Raise Fish That 'Walk' on Land

To Study Evolution, Scientists Raise Fish That 'Walk' on Land

An unusual species of fish that can walk and breathe air shows that these animals may be more capable of adapting to life on land than previously thought, researchers say.

The new findings may help explain how the ancient fish ancestors of humans colonized the land.

The evolution of the ancient fish that switched from living in water to living on land about 400 million years ago is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the animal kingdom. These first four-limbed animals, known as stem tetrapods, ultimately gave rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Just how ancient fish made the shift to terrestrial life still remains largely a mystery. To learn more about what happened, scientists investigated the bichir (Polypterus senegalus), a modern African fish that has lungs for breathing air, and stubby fins it can use to pull itself along on land. The bichir possesses many traits similar to ones seen in fossils of stem tetrapods, the researchers said.

I thought I'd pop in and post this story. I think this is cheating but still interesting. One could imagine this development taking place in nature.


Here is a video on the topic

Good find. S&F It's always interesting to see the scientists closing the gaps in the theory of evolution. I wonder if a Creationist would consider this fish a transitional species? Probably not.

Is this that 'frakenfish' that people thought would eat children?

The snakehead is what I'm thinking of that eats kids and puppies and bunnies.

Youtube has failed me but for some reason it remind me of this

vimeo.com...

Makes me wonder if on another planet, the fish never left the water and evolved down there into sentient beings like our selves..But under the water.

Then it makes me wonder if they could make machines that travel through water and air, or even space

Then I go onto thinking, I wonder if in their space crafts they have water to be able to live.

Then, what if they are here and living in our oceans in the deepest depths..

Anyway I'm pretty high. Thanks for sharing - I love # like this

originally posted by: n00bUK
Makes me wonder if on another planet, the fish never left the water and evolved down there into sentient beings like our selves..But under the water.

Then it makes me wonder if they could make machines that travel through water and air, or even space

Then I go onto thinking, I wonder if in their space crafts they have water to be able to live.

Then, what if they are here and living in our oceans in the deepest depths..

Anyway I'm pretty high. Thanks for sharing - I love # like this

two words dude: abe sapien.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Wow that's pretty interesting... It doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to see this little fella here becoming a snake or some little lizard, down the line of coarse.

Cool stuff Slayer.

originally posted by: minusinfinity
Is this that 'frakenfish' that people thought would eat children?

The snakehead is what I'm thinking of that eats kids and puppies and bunnies.

You'd have to watch the original episode

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
I wonder if a Creationist would consider this fish a transitional species? Probably not.

The majority of creationists will conveniently ignore this, and this thread.

I brought this species up to a creationist a few months back, he replied; "That's not evolution, God must have created them like that, and we simply haven't found them til now"

He also said "did you know they found seashells on top of Mount Everest?" (ref Noahs arc)
I didn't bother explaining plate tectonics and how the continents collided, I just chose not to speak to him again.

so, I can just toss a line into the grass and the fish will come to me if I have the right bait. I like that idea. It wouldn't be as good of a fight though.

I wonder how good these fish taste?

I bet I would only catch coons, skunks, coyotes, and fox though. Maybe even a bear. I'm not going to try it, They'll never leave.

So them sharks out of water on scifi are real. I was comfortable believing that it was a fiction channel.

That is amazing, great find there haha

I don't blame em for tryna evolve out of that plastic dump land!

I would love to see a forty or fifty year study done on this.

Imagine two separate pools, one as a control, and the other for a study. The study group's food is provided on land, while the control in the water. I'd imagine you'd see some remarkable traits emerge as each new generation is fed on land - like better adapted abilities to 'walk', including significant changes in the bone structure.

a reply to: MarsIsRed

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the article. They need to do a long term study on these guys similar to Lenski's although the rates of mutation, adaptation and reproduction would be far far slower, it would certainly be well worth the effort.

originally posted by: n00bUK
Makes me wonder if on another planet, the fish never left the water and evolved down there into sentient beings like our selves..But under the water.

Then it makes me wonder if they could make machines that travel through water and air, or even space

Then I go onto thinking, I wonder if in their space crafts they have water to be able to live.

Then, what if they are here and living in our oceans in the deepest depths..

Anyway I'm pretty high. Thanks for sharing - I love # like this

Depending on what you read about the Dogon tribe of West Africa, it might be true

www.unmuseum.org...

a reply to: MarsIsRed

Could the presumed changes/traits take place epigenetic-ally.? muscle/bone, pelvic shape, gait.. etc.

originally posted by: SLAYER69
To Study Evolution, Scientists Raise Fish That 'Walk' on Land

An unusual species of fish that can walk and breathe air shows that these animals may be more capable of adapting to life on land than previously thought, researchers say.

The new findings may help explain how the ancient fish ancestors of humans colonized the land.

The evolution of the ancient fish that switched from living in water to living on land about 400 million years ago is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the animal kingdom. These first four-limbed animals, known as stem tetrapods, ultimately gave rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Just how ancient fish made the shift to terrestrial life still remains largely a mystery. To learn more about what happened, scientists investigated the bichir (Polypterus senegalus), a modern African fish that has lungs for breathing air, and stubby fins it can use to pull itself along on land. The bichir possesses many traits similar to ones seen in fossils of stem tetrapods, the researchers said.

I thought I'd pop in and post this story. I think this is cheating but still interesting. One could imagine this development taking place in nature.


Here is a video on the topic

and i'm impressed, why?

if you had gills and i held you underwater, would you swim better?

wtf?

they already had lungs for a billion years and still lived in the water.

did one come out and turn into a monkey?

originally posted by: OpenEars123

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
I wonder if a Creationist would consider this fish a transitional species? Probably not.

The majority of creationists will conveniently ignore this, and this thread.

I brought this species up to a creationist a few months back, he replied; "That's not evolution, God must have created them like that, and we simply haven't found them til now"

He also said "did you know they found seashells on top of Mount Everest?" (ref Noahs arc)
I didn't bother explaining plate tectonics and how the continents collided, I just chose not to speak to him again.

so when did they develop lungs and why are they still under water?

At least in the video they said some fish do walk, but they also walk in water on the substrate. The thing we may be seeing here is a fish learning. Fish are actually intelligent, even small fish with tiny little brains can learn. Especially when it comes to eating. I like the experiment and love studying fish though I dont think this will have much bearing on the evolutioncreation debate. What we see here is akin to a house pet raised around humans losing the ability to live in the wild. I will leave the rest for a marine biologist to weigh in on but i think you guys have wishful thinking.