Hairy Museum of Natural History

A portrait of Tiktaalik roseae

This and all other art by Ray Troll

If you trace our family tree 370,000,000 years back to the Late Devonian, this could well be the face of our long-lost mother. Meet Tiktaalik roseae, the newly described lobefinned fish from Nunavut, Canada. The name Tiktaalik comes from an Inuit word for the fish we call burbot, after local elders noted the similarity between the fossil and the large living fish they catch.

Unlike its namesake, however, Tiktaalik is a member of the great fish clan Sarcopterygia. Sarcopterygians acheived enduring fame, glory, and eventually cheeseburgers after certain members evolved the means to crawl out of the water and taking the first steps (literally) to a totally landlubbing lifestyle. Tiktaalik fits into this story quite well, sporting a set of characters more amphibian-like than all other fish, but more fish-like than the earliest amphibians.

Our very own curator of Ich-theology (the study of Fish Worship), Ray Troll, appreciates more than most the duality of being a totally terrestrial tetrapod while embracing our fishy lobe-finned heritage.

Ray created this suite of Tiktaalik art after learning about this amazing find. Not only that, it inspired him to write and record The Devonian Blues, a lament for wayward sarcopterygians (download the mp3). You can read his thoughts about Tiktaalik, peruse his art, and watch The Devonian Blues music video at his website.

Pharyngula has all the technical imagery, and Palaeoblog has some additional restorations.

A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan. 2006. Edward B. Daeschler, et al. Nature 440: 757-763

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Bony Fish, Devonian, Ich-Theology, Recent Discoveries, Tetrapods.