We used to think evolution had to start with random mutations – now walking fish and bipedal mice are turning our ideas on their head
"TO BE honest, I was intrigued to see if they'd even survive on land," says Emily Standen. Her plan was to drain an aquarium of nearly all the water and see how the fish coped. The fish in question were bichir fish that can breathe air and haul themselves over land when they have to, so it's not as far-fetched as it sounds.
What was perhaps more questionable was Standen's rationale. Two years earlier, in 2006, Tiktaalik had become a global sensation. This 360-million-year-old fossil provides a snapshot of the moment our fishy ancestors hauled themselves out of the water and began trading fins for limbs. Standen thought forcing bichir fish to live almost entirely on land could reveal ...
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