To answer how animals made the transition from sea to land, scientists have traditionally looked to the fossil record. But in the past 30 years, scientists have searched for changes in genes that can ...

When tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) began to move from water to land roughly 390 million years ago it set in motion the rise of lizards, birds, mammals, and all land animals that exist today, ...

A study of catsharks reveals how alterations in the expression and function of certain genes in limb buds underlie the evolution of fish fins to limbs. The findings are reported by researchers from ...

Many fish species evolved parts of their fins into sharp, spiny, needle-like elements -- called fin spines -- that function to protect the fish against predators. Such spines have evolved ...

In a new study an international team of researchers examined three-dimensional digital models of the bones, joints, and muscles of the fins and limbs of two extinct early tetrapods and a closely ...