Re: Polish find in Nature

["T. Michael Keesey" <keesey@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 3:55 PM, Erik Boehm <erikboehm07@yahoo.com> wrote:
> How reliable is the trackway dating?
> How reliable is the dating of tiktaalik?
>
> It seems odd to me that tiktaalik would exist in the presence of fishapods 
> with better developed limbs, but that may just be my inability to conceive of 
> a niche that would favor the development of stubby leg like fins over "true" 
> limbs or "true" fins.

Doesn't seem surprising at all to me. Tiktaalik was aquatic or
amphibious and probably did just fine in the water.

Remember, legs evolved in bottom-dwelling aquatic forms (walking on
"wet land") and were later exapted for use on dry land. (At least,
that's how I understand it.) What works n dry land doesn't necessarily
work better on "wet land".
-- 
T. Michael Keesey
Technical Consultant and Developer, Internet Technologies
Glendale, California
http://tmkeesey.net/