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The axial skeleton of the Devonian tetrapod Ichthyostega

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  • Per Erik Ahlberg

    (Uppsala University)

  • Jennifer A. Clack

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Henning Blom

    (Uppsala University
    University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Like a fish out of water The origin of tetrapods during the Devonian period, around 350 million years ago, was a key step in vertebrate evolution. The first and arguably the single most important discovery in the study of Devonian tetrapods was Ichthyostega, the four-legged fish from Greenland first described in 1932. Now, based on the original material and more recently collected specimens, a new reconstruction of Ichthyostega has been made. It differs radically from previous versions in having a regionalized vertebral column that bears a striking resemblance to that of a mammal. The presacral vertebral column appears to have almost no lateral flexibility, but there is vertical flexibility in the lumbar region. This suggests that Ichthyostega could move on land using a bilaterally symmetrical ‘shuffling’ action. It may have been an early and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at adapting the tetrapod body plan of terrestrial locomotion, a problem solved by a tetrapod lineage quite closely related to Ichthyostega.

Suggested Citation

  • Per Erik Ahlberg & Jennifer A. Clack & Henning Blom, 2005. "The axial skeleton of the Devonian tetrapod Ichthyostega," Nature, Nature, vol. 437(7055), pages 137-140, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:437:y:2005:i:7055:d:10.1038_nature03893
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03893
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