A 375-million-year-old sea monster that grows legs reveals the secret to changing the earth

The sea monsters of the Devonian period are evidence of the evolutionary leap that enabled us to walk on continents today .

New findings from sea monster fossils dating back 375 million years provide insight into the evolution of the axial skeleton , shedding light on how our ancestors transitioned from aquatic to terrestrial life.

The bizarre skeleton of the Devonian sea monster Tiktaalik - (Photo: ERBELY UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE).

According to SciTech Daily, it is a surprisingly intact fossil of a Tiktaalik, an ancient fish often excavated in the Canadian Arctic region.

Using micro-CT scanning, the exquisite details of this Devonian sea monster's vertebrae and ribs have been revealed.

A group of scientists from Erbely University of Science (USA) showed that the ribs of this monstrous fish can be tightly connected to its pelvis with ligaments, something not found in normal fish. . Its pelvic fins also have a tighter connection.

This anomaly was used to support the ability to move on the hind limbs, which is only found in land animals that were born much later than this fish.

In normal fish, the pelvic fins and bones of the pelvic girdle are relatively small and almost "float" freely in the body.

Therefore, Tiktaalik is the species that holds the first step to the terrestrial life of the biological world , which is to gradually develop the ability to walk.

Its fins and pelvis made it wander on land, but helped it "stand up" and propel itself with its hind fins at the water's edge.

Tiktaalik can strangely "stand up" on the water's edge with its pelvic fins used as legs, although much smaller and weaker than the legs of four-legged animals - (AI graphic photo).

To date, researchers have never found a skeleton containing similar evolutionary traces.

"This reconstruction shows for the first time how everything fits together and gives us clues about how walking evolved," said Associate Professor Tom Stewart from the Erbely College of Science.

The complete reconstruction of Tiktaalik's skeleton took researchers many years. Initially only the front body was found and it took them a long time to remove the fossil from the slab.

In 2014, the fish's pelvis was revealed at the same fossil site. After 10 years of dissection and research, its complete skeleton was reassembled and a surprise was revealed.