![]() ![]() ![]() In 2004, he led a team of researchers who uncovered on Canada’s Ellesmere Island an amazing trove of extinct sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish) that were clearly transitional in the evolution of the first tetrapods, four-limbed land vertebrates. Shubin is an important figure in this movement. In fact, there are scientists who believe some terms that are now perceived as archaic or colloquial, such a “pongid” (a term denoting the great apes) and even “reptile” and Class Aves (birds) need to be replaced in favor of a more scientifically grounded taxonomy. With recent developments in comparative genomics, the study of the evolution of life chronicled in every organism’s DNA has triggered a revolution in how we classify organisms. The final episode, subtitled “Your Inner Monkey,” will air next Wednesday and will no doubt detail and explain the obvious anatomical commonalities between monkeys, apes and humans. Narrated by fish paleontologist Neil Shubin and based on his book of the same name, the program explores the evolution of the vertebrate body structure, and how the anatomy of the human body expresses this lineage first from ancient fish, then extinct reptiles and finally mammals. “Your Inner Fish” is a three-part series currently being aired on Public Television (10 pm EST). ![]()
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