Fall

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The Origin of Tetrapods

The research on the origination of tetrapods has endured many revolutions. The
study of tetrapods has grown and transformed since the discovery of a single taxon named
Icthyostega, which was found in East Greenland. The group tetrapods, mostly contains of
animals that have four four feet. Although the group also contains animals that dont posses
four feet as it includes any organism that shares a common ancestor with mammals, amphibians
and reptiles (Clack, 2006). This paper will critically examine the early Devonian tetrapods. It
will discuss how the older views on the origin of tetrapods have evolved and changed throughout
decades. This paper will identify all the possible evolutionary theories on the transition of fishes
to land, the problems these theories pertain and how the traditional interpretation has to change
to better understand tetrapods.
The process by which vertebrate invaded land was very important but gradual that
happened over a million of years. Tetrapods are known to have been evolved from an organism
with fins that lived in water (Clack, 2006). Fishes are believed to be a tetrapods closest relative.
However, this fish is not the ray-finned fish we know of today. Rather, the fish being mentioned

here isOrigin
a lobe finned fish.of
These fishes
had their limbs concealed with skin and muscles.
The
Tetrapods
As mentioned above, these aquatic organisms took a long time to adapt to life on land. A

Shivam
Batra
direct ancestor of tetrapods is extremely hard to tell as during the Devonian period, a lot of

Evolution and history of life, with lab

vertebrates
started
invading land (Zimmer, 2009). Even though lobe finned fishes are considered
TA: Jessica
Miller
camp
to be a tetrapods closest relative, it is hard to distinguish between these fishes and the earliest
primitive tetrapods. (Shubin, 2008)

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Several reasons as to why these animals left the water to explore vastness of the
land were discussed but one stood out. Drying pond and swamps has been the number one
possible reason as discussed by researchers (Clack, 2006). During the Devonian period, a lot of
the see beds were filled with red iron oxide that made the swamp dry and harder for the
organisms in it to breathe. The air bladder of some of the fishes started adapting to lack of water
and evolved into an organ that allowed respiration and the gills emaciated (Clack, 2006). . This
new development among fishes helped them to switch from puddles to puddles as soon as they
started drying up. Eventually, the distances between puddles started increasing which led to the
beginning of the adaption process (Shubin, 2008). Fishes with more limbs like structures were
better able to cover the distance, which further led to the evolution of limbs with digits (Clack,
2006). Some also hypothesized that smaller fish were chased out of water by bigger ones
(Shubin, 2008). As reasonable these hypothesizes may sound, they are highly criticized. Mostly
because it is unclear if fishes grew limb while in water or after they started moving out.
Against contrary belief it is often argued that fishes grew water while still in water. It is
unclear why fishes grew limbs, but it was most certainly not for walking. Fossils, from animals
like Acanthostega provides strong evidence that their limbs couldnt support their body weight.
The research on tetrapods reached its peak with the fossil discovery of Ichthyostega and
Acanthostega in East Greenland. Strictly on paper, Acanthostega will exactly fit the missing link
between a fish and a tetrapod (Clack, 2006). An Acanthostega can be considered a tetrapod but a
very primitive one. It lived in the Devonian period and had a flattish skull, which measured a
hundred and fifty mille meters in length. On the other hand, we seem to know a few details about
an Icthyostegas anatomy but its proposition is undeterminable as the fossil comes from different
specimens. The Icthyostega has been believed to be a meter long with a short and flat head
(Shubin, 2008). It also had lungs and limbs, which helped him navigate through swamps. It
walked a very thin line between tetrapods and fishes (Zimmer, 2009). On one hand it had limbs
instead of fins and on the other it had a tail with bony fish rays.

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In the early 1990s with enough evidence, everything was laid out for
evolutionists. It was still very difficult to break down to find the ancestor for all tetrapods. The
findings of new materials involving new taxa challenged the fossils found in East Greenland, this
lead to a serious questioning to the drying pond hypothesis (Zimmer, 2009). The evaluation of
new fossils belonging to several Devonian tetrapods lead to the fact that Devonian tetrapods
were predominantly aquatic in nature (Clack, 2006). Though an early tetrapod was assumed to
have five toes, the Icthyostega turned out to have seven digits. Also, the obstinate ankle of the
Icthyostega suggests that it used it limbs as paddles like a seal and not for walking like a
terrestrial animal. Another animal that was reexamined during that periods was the Acanthostega.
Its skeleton was fish like and its internal gills were very alike to the ones belonging to an
Australian lungfish. Like the Icthyostega, the Acanthostega also had a fin ray that looked very
similar to a lungfishs suggesting that it was truly an aquatic organism (Clack, 2006). There are
many other evidences that support this argument. For instances, the Icthyostega revealed that it
had seven digits set up in such a way that they looked like paddles (Shubin, 2008). Also, the
Acanthostega had fore and hind limbs designed specially for swimming. These findings led to a
major re-evaluation of the drying pond hypothesis.
The doubts involving the drying pond hypothesis led to the questioning of the origin of
limbs. At first it was assumed that the development of digits on limbs were in sync with invasion
of land by tetrapods. However, modern day evolutionists refuse to accept this idea, considering
the aquatic nature of these tetrapods mentioned above. Many modern day Darwinists argue that
of anything, the tetrapods adapted to living in swamps and shallow water (Clack, 2006). Later,
these traits were co-opted to for land use. Along with these reason, there were many other faults
critiqued about the drying fish hypothesis. Modern day researches believed that drying ponds and
hotter climates were note caused by red sea beds. The Iron oxide may have caused the red bed,
but it is highly unlikely that it made the environment semi-arid. Furthermore many modern day
fishes did not leave water and transitioned to land because of climatic problems (Zimmer, 2009).

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As old ideas being crushed by newer evidences, new ideas were formed in order
to better explain the origin of tetrapods. It was earlier known that Eusthenopteron, a fish, was the
model ancestor of tetrapods. It was later explained that despite showing tetrapod like behavior
Eusthenopteron had no obvious relation to terrestial life (Clack, 2006). The Eusthenopteron lived
a lifestyle very similar to modern day pike somewhat like a lurking aquatic predator. With
Eusthenopteron out of the picture, more emphasis was being focused on lobe-finned fishes like
the Panderichthys and Elpistostege. Evidence collected from Canada and Latvia suggest that
these fishes were most close to tetrapods than other lobe-finned fishes. These fishes had skulls
were similar to those of a crocodile, their eyes were placed dorsally, had a flattened body and a
straight tail (Shubin, 2008). Their designed suggest that they live their lives as shallow water
predators. All these organism listed on this paper might seem related but in reality they just have
unique traits combined in an organism which is shared by individual species. Stephen Jay Gould
states these traits as mosaic form. Ted Daeschler stated that these tetrapods are mosaic of aquatic
and terrestial form (Clack, 2006). These fishes posses tetrapod like features and the tetrapods
possess fishes like features. However, this shouldnt lead evolutionists to link major species.
These different organisms may have similar combination of structure but the nature of these
structures is completely different. Most structures may look intermediate however each structure
in an organism is fully functional. Whats strange is the combination of these structures. For
instance an Aconthostega has limbs and internal gill system. Researcher misread this and started
linking it to tetrapods ancestory (Clack, 2006). It was later revealed that these limbs were used to
paddle. It is very important to correctly predict the use of the structure. It wont be right to just
link animals with similar structures. These mosaic forms make it rather hard to identify organism
with the right combination. Organism like the Icthyostega, Acanthostega, Panderichthys and
Elpistostege may seem like the perfect model for a tetrapod but they each have a unique or
unanticipated feature that rules them out as a tetrapod (Clack, 2006).

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Recent discoveries have undeniably increased our understanding about Devonian
tetrapods. Evaluating fossil evidence of the Icthyostega and Eusthenopteron is not enough. There
is a lot of missing data to successfully prove the robust basis that the Upper Devonian tetrapods
evolved from a fish ancestor. It is very important to fully understand these creatures along with
their geological and ecological context. It can be interpreted that the fishes grew limbs while still
in water and any adaptions made were for shallow water, which later co-opted for life in land
proving the drying pond hypothesis wrong. The more fossils and evidence from the Devonian
times are found the more the old theory will be challenged and researched would come close find
that one ancestor to all vertebrates. Though it is very tempting to link mosaic forms, i.e.
organism with similar combinations of structure it is the wrong way to go. It is more important to
find the uses of these structures than to find the right combination

Reference
Clack, J. A. (2006). Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology. The emergence of
tetrapods, 232, 2-4. Doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.019
Zimmer, C. (2009). The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution. Denver, CO: Robert and
Company Press
Shubin, N. (2008). Your Inner Fish. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.