These are mammals. That lay eggs, and have no teats (but produce milk that oozes from pores). Those are common characteristics of reptiles. Yet, they are warm blooded, and have different types of teeth, the latter a characteristic found only in mammals. They are therefore intermediate species.
-Triggerfish, Balistidae
If one were to compare the order Tetraodontiformes with other ray-finned fish, one would see that triggers are intermediates between those two.
Puffers power their swim with pectoral, dorsal, and anal fins (latter two unique among tetraodonts), and not so much with caudal fins. They also lack rib bones, and have no spiny rays in their fins.
Triggers power their swim with pectoral, dorsal, anal, and to get a quick burst of speed, caudal fins. Their rig cage has been reduced to just a single bone, and they only have three spiny rays.
Most other ray-finned fish swim with mostly caudal or pectoral fins, and most have a full rib cage. Most also have spiny rays, and none otherwise look much like any tetraodonts. The evolution of tetraodonts likely was the result of "advancement through reduction". However, far from being "primitive", they are intelligent, quick, and strong fish.
-Legless lizards; Another intermediate.
Pygopodidae is the family of legless lizards. They are distinguished from snakes by their eyelids that can blink (snakes have no eyelids), external ear holes (snakes have no ears at all, internal or external), and flat, non-forked tongues. Many species also feature vestigial limbs, in the form of scaly flaps.
en.wikipedia.org...
Will leave it at that for now.
Oh, and since I'm on the topic.
The misconception about the lack of transitional fossils is perpetuated in part by a common way of thinking about categories. When people think about a category like "dog" or "ant," they often subconsciously believe that there is a well-defined boundary around the category, or that there is some eternal ideal form (for philosophers, the Platonic idea) which defines the category. This kind of thinking leads people to declare that Archaeopteryx is "100% bird," when it is clearly a mix of bird and reptile features (with more reptile than bird features, in fact). In truth, categories are man-made and artificial. Nature is not constrained to follow them, and it doesn't.
www.talkorigins.org...
[edit on 2-7-2008 by SlyCM]
