Freethought & Rationalism Archive

MrDarwin · 06-30-2003, 09:43 AM

Sorry to say I couldn't find the paper on the web (not even an abstract), but for those of you who are interested in such things this is worth looking up:

Ruta, M., Coates, M. I., and Quick, D. L. J. 2003. Early tetrapod relationships revisited. Biological Review 78: 251-345.

The paper points out the blurring between "fish" and "tetrapods" as more early fossils are discovered. Of particular interest is a cladogram based on the morphology of 90 taxa mapped against the stratigraphic record of their fossils. The branching of the cladogram corresponds almost perfectly to their occurrence in the fossil record (i.e., earliest diverging taxa have the oldest fossils, more derived taxa have younger fossils). If this isn't support for evolution, I don't know what is.

lpetrich · 06-30-2003, 10:43 AM

Fish/tetrapod blurring -> "Darwin Fish"

MrDarwin · 06-30-2003, 12:36 PM

One other thing that impressed me about this paper was just how many of these early tetrapods have been discovered already, and how good many of these fossils are. 90 different genera ("kinds"?) from the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian! I think we need to stop apologizing for the fossil record, and emphasize just how good it is!

Grumpy · 06-30-2003, 01:17 PM

I thought this would be a thread about how to score with mermaids.

MrDarwin · 06-30-2003, 01:42 PM

No, I think you're looking for the help with dating systems thread.

Per Ahlberg · 07-01-2003, 05:21 AM

If anybody is interested I have a pdf file of this paper. (Cracking piece of work, by the way, and the authors have had access to just about all the key material.)

Grumpy, I'm sorry to say that the earliest tetrapods likely engaged in external fertilization of large blobs of jelly-like eggs. Mermaids would probably be a better bet...

Cheers, Per

06-30-2003, 09:43 AM	#1
MrDarwin Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 4,140	Early tetrapod relationships Sorry to say I couldn't find the paper on the web (not even an abstract), but for those of you who are interested in such things this is worth looking up: Ruta, M., Coates, M. I., and Quick, D. L. J. 2003. Early tetrapod relationships revisited. Biological Review 78: 251-345. The paper points out the blurring between "fish" and "tetrapods" as more early fossils are discovered. Of particular interest is a cladogram based on the morphology of 90 taxa mapped against the stratigraphic record of their fossils. The branching of the cladogram corresponds almost perfectly to their occurrence in the fossil record (i.e., earliest diverging taxa have the oldest fossils, more derived taxa have younger fossils). If this isn't support for evolution, I don't know what is.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

06-30-2003, 10:43 AM	#2
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	Fish/tetrapod blurring -> "Darwin Fish"

06-30-2003, 12:36 PM	#3
MrDarwin Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 4,140	One other thing that impressed me about this paper was just how many of these early tetrapods have been discovered already, and how good many of these fossils are. 90 different genera ("kinds"?) from the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian! I think we need to stop apologizing for the fossil record, and emphasize just how good it is!

06-30-2003, 01:17 PM	#4
Grumpy Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Alaska, USA Posts: 1,535	I thought this would be a thread about how to score with mermaids.

06-30-2003, 01:42 PM	#5
MrDarwin Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 4,140	No, I think you're looking for the help with dating systems thread.

07-01-2003, 05:21 AM	#6
Per Ahlberg Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 582	If anybody is interested I have a pdf file of this paper. (Cracking piece of work, by the way, and the authors have had access to just about all the key material.) Grumpy, I'm sorry to say that the earliest tetrapods likely engaged in external fertilization of large blobs of jelly-like eggs. Mermaids would probably be a better bet... Cheers, Per

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.