Deep TimeLife & Evolution

Fish walk onto land

375 million years agoTurning point

Lobe-finned fish like Tiktaalik evolve limb-like fins. The four-limbed body plan of every amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal starts here.

Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land

Community notes

Loading notes…

Learn more ranked by votes

Documentnature.com

A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan (Daeschler et al., Nature 2006) ↗