The skeletons have the fins, scales and other attributes of a giant fish, four to nine feet long. But on closer examination, the scientists found telling anatomical traits of a transitional creature, a fish that is still a fish but has changes that anticipate the emergence of land animals — and is thus a predecessor of amphibians, reptiles and dinosaurs, mammals and eventually humans.(New York Times link from Marginal Utility.)
The story has been in several newspapers today, and this morning's "Osgood File" on radio quoted a researcher who suggested the advantage this fish's neck and legs conferred was in being able to spot water-bound predators and remove itself from their domain. Reminds me of the confusion A. Square sowed in Flatland speaking of "Upward, not Northward." That is, if sea-sharks could contemplate something outside their oceans.
These folks will sell you a Darwin Fish
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