Fish out of water: The evolutionary crawl from sea to land

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — A 370-million-year-old skull and shoulder bone from a walking fish have shed light on when and how our distant ancestors slithered out of the sea to begin a new life on terra firma.

The fossilised remains belong to a beast which had the head of a tetrapod -- among the first animals more adapted to land than water -- and a body and fins resembling its fish-like predecessor, Panderichthys, scientists say.

Their study, released Wednesday, says the creature, known as Ventastega curonica, had an ample jaw and razor-like teeth, suggesting a ferocious predator the size of an adult crocodile.

It also had primitive flippers, allowing it to explore shallow marshes for prey.

The fossil suggests early amphibious animals of the Late Devonian period...