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The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. [1] Tetrapods (under the apomorphy-based definition used on this page) are categorized as animals in the biological superclass Tetrapoda, which includes all living and extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Though stem-tetrapods originated in the preceding Devonian, it was in the earliest Carboniferous that the first crown tetrapods appeared, with full scaleless skin and five digits. During this time, amphibians (including many extinct groups unrelated to modern forms, referred to as "basal tetrapods") were the predominant tetrapods, and included ...
There is no evidence that it did so, only that it may have been anatomically capable of doing so. [58] [59] The publication in 2018 of Tutusius umlambo and Umzantsia amazana from high latitude Gondwana setting indicate that the tetrapods enjoyed a global distribution by the end of the Devonian and even extend into the high latitudes. [60]
Jennifer Alice Clack, FRS, FLS (née Agnew; 3 November 1947 – 26 March 2020) was an English palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist.She specialised in the early evolution of tetrapods, specifically studying the "fish to tetrapod" transition: the origin, evolutionary development and radiation of early tetrapods and their relatives among the lobe-finned fishes.
Early fossil tetrapods have been found in marine sediments, and because fossils of primitive tetrapods in general are found scattered all around the world, they must have spread by following the coastal lines — they could not have lived in freshwater only. Fossil Illuminates Evolution of Limbs from Fins Scientific American, 2 2 April 2004.
Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, temnein 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, spondylos 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent.
Nine tetrapod trackways from three sites have been reported from the Valentia Slate Formation of Valentia Island, Ireland. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The Valentia Slate Formation is composed mostly of purple coloured fine-grained sandstones and siltstones interpreted to represent a fluvial setting.
[7] [19] As with East Kirkton Quarry, tetrapods at these sites were discovered through the long-term efforts of Stan Wood and colleagues. [19] In April 2013 scientists associated with the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the National Museums of Scotland announced the TW:eed project (Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversification).