Freshwater lobe-finned fish may be the direct ancestors of terrestrial tetrapods.
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One of the most significant evolutionary events that occurred on Earth was the transition of water-dwelling fish to terrestrial tetrapods (four-limbed organisms with backbones). Fish probably originated in the oceans, and our first records of them are in marine rocks. However, by the Devonian Period (408 million to 362 million years ago), they had radiated into almost all available aquatic habitats, including freshwater settings. One of the groups whose fossils are especially common in rocks deposited in fresh water is the lobe-finned fish.
The freshwater Devonian lobe-finned fish rhipidistian crossopterygian is of particular interest to biologists studying tetrapod evolution. These fish lived in river channels and lakes on large deltas. The delta rocks in which these fossils are found are commonly red due to oxidized iron minerals, indicating that the deltas formed in a climate that had alternate wet and dry periods. If there were periods of drought, any adaptations allowing the fish to survive the dry conditions would have been advantageous. In these rhipidistians, several such adaptations existed. It is known that they had lungs as well as gills for breathing. Cross sections cut through some of the fossils reveal that the mud filling the interior of the carcass differed in consistency and texture depending on its location inside the fish. These differences suggest a saclike cavity below the front end of the gut that can only be interpreted as a lung. Gills were undoubtedly the main source of oxygen for these fish, but the lungs served as an auxiliary breathing device for gulping air when the water became oxygen depleted, such as during extended periods of drought. So, these fish had already evolved one of the prime requisites for living on land: the ability to use air as a source of oxygen.
A second adaptation of these fish was in the structure of the lobe fins. The fins were thick, fleshy, and quite sturdy, with a median axis of bone down the center. They could have been used as feeble locomotor devices on land, perhaps good enough to allow a fish to flop its way from one pool of water that was almost dry to an adjacent pond that had enough water and oxygen for survival. These fins eventually changed into short, stubby legs. The bones of the fins of a Devonian rhipidistian exactly match in number and position the limb bones of the earliest known tetrapods, the amphibians. It should be emphasized that the evolution of lungs and limbs was in no sense an anticipation of future life on land. These adaptations developed because they helped fish to survive in their existing aquatic environment.
What ecological pressures might have caused fishes to gradually abandon their watery habitat and become increasingly land-dwelling creatures? Changes in climate during the Devonian may have had something to do with this if freshwater areas became progressively more restricted. Another impetus may have been new sources of food. The edges of ponds and streams surely had scattered dead fish and other water-dwelling creatures. In addition, plants had emerged into terrestrial habitats in areas near streams and ponds, and crabs and other arthropods were also members of this earliest terrestrial community. Thus, by the Devonian the land habitat marginal to freshwater was probably a rich source of protein that could be exploited by an animal that could easily climb out of water. Evidence from teeth suggests that these earliest tetrapods did not utilize land plants as food; they were presumably carnivorous and had not developed the ability to feed on plants.
How did the first tetrapods make the transition to a terrestrial habitat? Like early land plants such as rhyniophytes, they made only a partial transition; they were still quite tied to water. However, many problems that faced early land plants were not applicable to the first tetrapods. The ancestors of these animals already had a circulation system, and they were mobile, so that they could move to water to drink. Furthermore, they already had lungs, which rhipidistians presumably used for auxiliary breathing. The principal changes for the earliest tetrapods were in the skeletal system-changes in the bones of the fins, the vertebral column, pelvic girdle, and pectoral girdle.
题型分类:总结题
文章结构分析:
第一段:讲地球上最重要的演化之一是鱼从水生转型到陆生。鱼可能起源于海洋,我们最早的证据是在海洋的岩石里。
第二三段:生物学家们对生活在大型三角洲的河道和湖泊里的鱼类进行研究,发现鱼类进化到陆生借助于必备的两项器官的进化:肺和鳍。
第四段:讨论鱼类逐渐成为陆生生物的原因,一方面是气候变化,一方面是新的事物供应
第五段:在逐渐进化成陆生生物之前,tetrapods的前期过渡只是发生部分变化。最早期的四足动物主要进化的是骨骼系统,即鳍骨、脊柱、骨盆、肩胛骨发生变化。
选项分析:
Rhipidistian选项:对应文章第二段和第三段;
A drier climate选项:对应第四段;
Early选项:对应文章第五段;
By the Devonian选项:在原文未提到,错误;
During the Devonian选项:“the number of bones increased in the fins of rhipidistian”与第三段第五句话矛盾,错误;
Shortly选项:在原文中并没有体现,错误。
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