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Science 2 April 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5667, pp. 90 - 93
DOI: 10.1126/science.1094295
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Reports

The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus

Neil H. Shubin,1* Edward B. Daeschler,2 Michael I. Coates1

A tetrapod humerus from the Late Devonian of Pennsylvania has a novel mix of primitive and derived characters. A comparative analysis of this fossil and other relevant humeri from the Devonian shows that the role of the limb in propping the body arose first in fish fins, not tetrapod limbs. The functional diversity of the earliest known limbs includes several different kinds of appendage design. This functional diversity was achieved with a humeral architecture that was remarkably conserved during the Devonian.

1 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
2 Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nshubin{at}uchicago.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Confirmation of Romer's Gap as a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization.
P. Ward, C. Labandeira, M. Laurin, and R. A. Berner (2006)
PNAS 103, 16818-16822
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus".
P. E. Ahlberg (2004)
Science 305, 1715c
   Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus".
M. I. Coates, N. H. Shubin, and E. B. Daeschler (2004)
Science 305, 1715d
   Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)