Is there scientific evidence of human evolution from fish?
Human evolution from fish occurred over billions of years of life on Earth. There is scientific evidence of human evolution from fish. Read more about human evolution from fish and why it matters. Many features of the human body are just complex versions of those in simpler creatures that, at first glance, seem totally unlike us.
What is the transition from fish to vertebrates?
Paleontologists suggest that it is representative of the transition between non-tetrapod vertebrates (fish) such as Panderichthys, known from fossils 380 million years old, and early tetrapods such as Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, known from fossils about 365 million years old.
When did fish become the dominant vertebrate on Earth?
Between 500 and 400 million years ago, vertebrate life on earth was dominated by prehistoric fish.
What is an example of an adaptation of a fish?
A fish with limb-like fins that could take it onto land. It is an example from several lines of ancient sarcopterygian fish developing adaptations to the oxygen-poor shallow-water habitats of its time, which led to the evolution of tetrapods.
What was the first insect to evolve?
The oldest confirmed insect fossil is that of a wingless, silverfish-like creature that lived about 385 million years ago. It's not until about 60 million years later, during a period of the Earth's history known as the Pennsylvanian, that insect fossils become abundant.
What did the insects evolve from?
Insects may have evolved from a group of crustaceans. The first insects were landbound, but about 400 million years ago in the Devonian period one lineage of insects evolved flight, the first animals to do so.
What did insects descend from?
One of the most important results of this new study is support for the hypothesis that the insects evolved from a group of crustaceans. So flies, honeybees, ants, and crickets all branched off the arthropod family tree from within the lineage that gave rise to today's crabs, shrimp, and lobsters.
Did insects evolve in the ocean?
The most likely hypothesis is that by the time insects evolved, the seas had already been well populated by all major phyla of marine invertebrates, which evolved some 200 million years earlier, and it may be that “osmotic regulation and submarine respiration involve evolution of such different physiological ...
When did fish first appear?
The first fish appeared around 530 million years ago and then underwent a long period of evolution so that, today, they are by far the most diverse group of vertebrates.
How did bugs evolve wings?
One holds that wings evolved by modification of limb branches that were already present in multibranched ancestral appendages and probably functioned as gills. The second proposes that wings arose as novel outgrowths of the body wall, not directly related to any pre-existing limbs.
Did insect wings evolve from legs?
Insect wings, the team confirmed, evolved from an outgrowth or “lobe” on the legs of an ancestral crustacean (yes, crustacean).
Why did insects evolve 6 legs?
Six legs allow for locomotion, while maintaining a supportive tripod at all times. There are several million species of insects, all on 6 legs. This implies that any change in this number is promptly selected against. It is generally agreed that insects were derived from many-legged ancestors, e.g. centipedes.
What is the oldest bug on earth?
millipede fossilA 425-million-year-old millipede fossil from the Scottish island of Kerrera is the world's oldest 'bug' -- older than any known fossil of an insect, arachnid or other related creepy-crawly.
Did crabs evolve from spiders?
Just as we all humans have a common ancestor, these all arthropods have a common ancestor. They all evolved from one arthropod. So neither the crabs evolved from spiders, nor the spiders evolved from crabs.
How did humans evolve from fish?
The early human embryo looks very similar to the embryo of any other mammal, bird or amphibian - all of which have evolved from fish. Your eyes start out on the sides of your head, but then move to the middle. The top lip along with the jaw and palate started life as gill-like structures on your neck.
How did sea spiders evolve?
One theory is that this reflects how a common ancestor of all arthropods evolved; starting its life as a small animal with a pair of appendages used for feeding and two pairs used for locomotion, while new segments and segmental appendages were gradually added as it was growing.
From Water to Land
Now that you know how fish move, we can talk about how land-walking critters may have evolved from fish-like ocean dwellers. You may have heard of evolution, or natural selection. It is the idea that some creatures with traits that help them survive live to pass those traits on to their babies.
Glow in the Dark Fish
To see how fish muscles may have evolved, scientists conducted an experiment with several species of fish, including paddlefish, zebrafish, and lungfish (a type of fish that has lungs and breathes air). They also wanted to see if sharks had different muscle development, because shark skeletons are made of flexible cartilage instead of hard bones.
Fish and Sharks
Between 500 and 400 million years ago, vertebrate life on earth was dominated by prehistoric fish.
Marine Reptiles
At least some of the ancestral reptiles of the Carboniferous period led partly (or mostly) aquatic lifestyles, but the true age of marine reptiles didn't begin until the appearance of the ichthyosaurs ("fish lizards") during the early to middle Triassic period.
Pterosaurs
Often mistakenly referred to as dinosaurs, pterosaurs ("winged lizards") were actually a distinct family of skin-winged reptiles that evolved from a population of archosaurs during the early to middle Triassic period.
Birds
It's difficult to pin down the exact moment when the first true prehistoric birds evolved from their feathered dinosaur forebears. Most paleontologists point to the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, on the evidence of distinctly bird-like dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx and Epidexipteryx.
Mesozoic Mammals
As with most such evolutionary transitions, there wasn't a bright line separating the most advanced therapsids ("mammal-like reptiles") of the late Triassic period from the first true mammals that appeared around the same time.
Cenozoic Mammals
After dinosaurs, pterosaurs and marine reptiles vanished off the face of the earth 65 million years ago, the big theme in vertebrate evolution was the rapid progression of mammals from small, timid, mouse-sized creatures to the giant megafauna of the middle to late Cenozoic Era, including oversized wombats, rhinoceroses, camels, and beavers.
Primates
Technically speaking, there's no good reason to separate prehistoric primates from the other mammalian megafauna that succeeded the dinosaurs, but it's natural (if a bit egotistic) to want to distinguish our human ancestors from the mainstream of vertebrate evolution.
The Evolution of Fish From the Cambrian to the Cretaceous Periods
Bob Strauss is a science writer and the author of several books, including "The Big Book of What, How and Why" and "A Field Guide to the Dinosaurs of North America."
The Earliest Vertebrates: Pikaia and Pals
Although most paleontologists wouldn't recognize them as true fish, the first fish-like creatures to leave an impression on the fossil record appeared during the middle Cambrian period, about 530 million years ago.
The Evolution of Jawless Fish
During the Ordovician and Silurian periods — from 490 to 410 million years ago — the world's oceans, lakes, and rivers were dominated by jawless fish, so named because they lacked lower jaws (and thus the ability to consume large prey).
The Big Split: Lobe-Finned Fish, Ray-Finned Fish, and Placoderms
By the start of the Devonian period--about 420 million years ago--the evolution of prehistoric fish veered off in two (or three, depending on how you count them) directions.
The Giant Fish of the Mesozoic Era
No history of fish would be complete without mentioning the giant "dino-fish" of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (though these fish weren't as numerous as their oversized dinosaur cousins).
Fossil Clues to Human Development and Human Evolution From Fish
Fossils are one of three major types of evidence for how human bodies developed and how they work; the others are embryos and genes.
A Skeletal Pattern for Limbs
This book shows how scientists can trace bones, teeth, the DNA recipe, and the biological process for building organs from early creatures to humans. These similarities show that the world’s diverse creatures are variations on a theme.
A DNA Recipe for Limbs
Just as echoes of our bone development can be seen in earlier animals, our genetic recipe also traces back to other creatures. This shows that humans evolved from fish, and the journey of human evolution from fish.
A Pattern in Our Heads
The complicated assemblage of bones, tissue, muscles, arteries, and nerves that comprises our head is based on a simple plan found in sharks, with echoes of even earlier structures in headless worms. This also helps answer the question: did humans evolve from fish?
A Body Design
Just as we share common designs for our hands, limbs, and heads with other creatures, we share our basic body design with other creatures as well. It starts with embryos, which go through the same early stages of development, regardless of the animal type.
Summary
The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish lineages belong to the Agnatha, or jawless fish. Early examples include Haikouichthys. During the late Cambrian, eel-like jawless fish called the conodonts, and small mostly armoured fish known as ostracoderms, first appeared. Most jawle…
Overview
Fish may have evolved from an animal similar to a coral-like sea squirt (a tunicate), whose larvae resemble early fish in important ways. The first ancestors of fish may have kept the larval form into adulthood (as some sea squirts do today), although this path cannot be proven.
Vertebrates, among them the first fishes, originated about 530 million years ag…
Jawless fishes
Jawless fishes belong to the superclass Agnatha in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata. Agnatha comes from the Greek, and means "no jaws". It excludes all vertebrates with jaws, known as gnathostomes. Although a minor element of modern marine fauna, jawless fish were prominent among the early fish in the early Paleozoic. Two types of Early Cambrian animal which apparentl…
Jawed fish
The vertebrate jaw probably originally evolved in the Silurian period and appeared in the Placoderm fish, which further diversified in the Devonian. The two most anterior pharyngeal arches are thought to have become the jaw itself and the hyoid arch, respectively. The hyoid system suspends the jaw from the braincase of the skull, permitting great mobility of the jaws. Already long assumed to be …
Timeline
The Late Devonian extinctions played a crucial role in shaping the evolution of fish, or vertebrates in general. Fishes evolved during the Early Paleozoic, and in the Devonian all modern groups (Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, and Osteichthyes) were already present. Devonian aquatic environments were also marked by placoderms and acanthodians, which are only known from fossils, however. Aft…
Prehistoric fish
Prehistoric fish are early fish that are known only from fossil records. They are the earliest known vertebrates, and include the first and extinct fish that lived through the Cambrian to the Tertiary. The study of prehistoric fish is called paleoichthyology. A few living forms, such as the coelacanth are also referred to as prehistoric fish, or even living fossils, due to their current rarity and similarity to extinct forms. Fish that have become recently extinct are not usually referred to as pr…
Living fossils
• Hagfish
• Lamprey
• Arowana and Arapaima
• Bowfin
• Coelacanth
Fossil sites
Some fossil sites that have produced notable fish fossils
• Abbey Wood SSSI
• Besano Formation
• Bracklesham Beds
• Bear Gulch Limestone