Sometime during the Devonian period, some 375 million years ago, a unique vertebrate emerged from the water to embark on a new phase in the evolution of vertebrates: the colonization of land. Now, thanks to research by paleontologist Ted Daeschler, we know a little bit more about the type of animal that may have first planted wet foot onto dry land.

Daeschler and his team of researchers recently unearthed an extraordinary fossilized animal skeleton from sediments in Canada's Nunavut Territory which lies within the Arctic Circle. The animal had a crocodile-like skull, a streamlined body, and forelimbs that are a cross between feet and fins. It had scales and fins. The previously undescribed animal was assigned the scientific name Tiktaalik roseae.

Tiktaalik exhibits characteristics of both fish and tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates).

Find out more:

• New Fossils Fill the Evolutionary Gap Between Fish and Land Animals (NSF)
• Fossil Suggests Missing Link From Fish to Land (NPR)
• Fossil Called Missing Link From Sea to Land Animals (New York Times)

Photo © Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation