Scientists have long wanted to know whether modern hands are related to the fins of fish, and now a new study finally reveals these structures are, indeed, related.
Researchers compared the genetic sequence of an unusual freshwater fish with that of mice, and found that the genes
involved in the development of the mice's hands and feet are also involved in fin development, which suggests the fins of the fishy ancestors evolved into the limbs of modern land animals.
involved in the development of the mice's hands and feet are also involved in fin development, which suggests the fins of the fishy ancestors evolved into the limbs of modern land animals.
"Fossils show that the wrist and digits clearly have an aquatic origin," Neil Shubin, an organismal biologist at the University of Chicago, said in a statement. "But fins and limbs have different purposes. They have evolved in different directions since they diverged."
origin," Neil Shubin, an organismal biologist at the University of Chicago, said in a statement. "But fins and limbs have different purposes. They have evolved in different directions since they diverged."
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