Coelecanth Fossil - Evolution Evidence?

I found this article and decided to share with the members, many of whom are far more tuned into this particular area of study.

Using a 400 million year old fossil of a Coelecanth, an ancient fish which is still occasionally caught by fisherman, scientists have made a discovery which "ends intense debate about the primitive pattern for lobed fins, which involves the ancestry of all limbs, including our own".

The article also goes on to say that we cannot compare today's living fossil catches with the ancient fossils, as present day Coelecanths differ from the fossil remains of the fish.

Anyway, I am no expert, and will let you read the story ...

Fossil fish sheds light on evolution of limbs

The discovery of the 400 million-year-old fossil of a coelacanth fin has helped scientists to bridge the evolutionary gap between fins and limbs.

Evolutionary biologists at the University of Chicago believe that the pattern in the fossilised fin closely resembles those of living ray-finned fishes.

ED: Spelling

[edit on 2007/8/1 by JacKatMtn]

Aye, another good find.

Doesn't quite come close to the impact of the Tiktaalik find, but interesting nevertheless.