Ichthyostegalia is an obsolete order of early amphibians, representing the earliest landliving vertebrates. The group is thus an evolutionary grade rather than a clade. While the group are recognized
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Tiktaalik is a monospecific genus of extinct sarcopterygian from the late Devonian Period, about 375 Mya, having many features similar to those of tetrapods. Tiktaalik is estimated to have had a total
Neil Shubin, one of the paleontologists who discovered Tiktaalik, holding a cast of its skull
Skull showing otic notches above the eyes
Pectoral fin of the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus fosteri), showing an anatomy common to many lobe-finned fish. The metapterygial axis (a line of rectangular axials) runs down the middle of the fin, flanked by radials which branch away from the midline, and finally very thin fin rays (lepidotrichia)