Neil Shubin
Neil Shubin
Neil Shubinis an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer. He is the Robert R. Bensley Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, Associate Dean of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and Professor on the Committee of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago along with being the Provost of the Field Museum of Natural History. He is best known for his discovery of Tiktaalik roseae...
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth22 December 1960
fish shows surprising
It is a fish that shows a surprising combination of characteristics of land-living animals.
behind cliff ideal likely rest sticking
That's ideal having the snout sticking out because in the cliff behind it is likely the rest of the animal.
arctic bears carry eat food polar
Another thing to get used to in the Arctic is being in the food chain. There are polar bears there, and polar bears eat people. So we carry weapons.
archaic branch evolution
This is not some archaic branch of evolution. This is our branch of evolution. This is our wrist. This is the evolution of our neck.
animal history includes represents transition water
This animal represents the transition from water to land?the part of history that includes ourselves.
against elbow extend lie tip wrist
It could flex the elbow and extend the wrist so the tip of the fin could lie against the ground. It could do a push-up.
either itself likely pull push rather seal straight walked
It could either push itself straight up and down or pull itself forward. It more likely flopped around like a seal rather than walked like a horse.
arctic classic inside rocks tropical
Outside, it's a classic Arctic scene. But inside those rocks is a tropical world.
years pieces body
We were staring at the origin of a piece of our own bodies inside this 375-million-year-old fish. We had a fish with a wrist.
hedgehogs kind source
With respect to the ZPA, what kind of digit develops depends on how close the digit is to the source of Sonic hedgehog.
cancer cells community
When the finely tuned balance among the different parts of bodies breaks down, the individual creature can die. A cancerous tumor, for example, is born when one batch of cells no longer cooperates with others. By dividing endlessly, or by failing to die properly, these cells can destroy the necessary balance that makes a living individual person. Cancers break the rules that allow cells to cooperate with one another. Like bullies who break cooperative societies, cancers behave in their own best interest until they kill their larger community, the human body.
convoluted products
We were not designed rationally, but are products of a convoluted history.
firsts teeth scales
We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.
party animal years
Take the entire 4.5-billion-year history of the earth and scale it down to a single year, with January 1 being the origin of the earth and midnight on December 31 being the present. Until June, the only organisms were single-celled microbes, such as algae, bacteria, and amoebae. The first animal with a head did not appear until October. The first human appears on December 31. We, like all the animals and plants that have ever lived, are recent crashers at the party of life on earth.