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Science 2 April 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5667, pp. 90 - 93
DOI: 10.1126/science.1094295
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Reports

The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus

Neil H. Shubin,1* Edward B. Daeschler,2 Michael I. Coates1

A tetrapod humerus from the Late Devonian of Pennsylvania has a novel mix of primitive and derived characters. A comparative analysis of this fossil and other relevant humeri from the Devonian shows that the role of the limb in propping the body arose first in fish fins, not tetrapod limbs. The functional diversity of the earliest known limbs includes several different kinds of appendage design. This functional diversity was achieved with a humeral architecture that was remarkably conserved during the Devonian.

1 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
2 Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nshubin{at}uchicago.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Late Devonian tetrapod habitats indicated by palaeosols in Pennsylvania.
G.J. Retallack, R.R. Hunt, and T.S. White (2009)
Journal of the Geological Society 166, 1143-1156
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Contrasting Developmental Trajectories in the Earliest Known Tetrapod Forelimbs.
V. Callier, J. A. Clack, and P. E. Ahlberg (2009)
Science 324, 364-367
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Confirmation of Romer's Gap as a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization.
P. Ward, C. Labandeira, M. Laurin, and R. A. Berner (2006)
PNAS 103, 16818-16822
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Evolutionary patterns in early tetrapods. I. Rapid initial diversification followed by decrease in rates of character change.
M. Ruta, P. J Wagner, and M. I Coates (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 2107-2111
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Evolutionary patterns in early tetrapods. II. Differing constraints on available character space among clades.
P. J Wagner, M. Ruta, and M. I Coates (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 2113-2118
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Comment on "The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus".
P. E. Ahlberg (2004)
Science 305, 1715c
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Response to Comment on "The Early Evolution of the Tetrapod Humerus".
M. I. Coates, N. H. Shubin, and E. B. Daeschler (2004)
Science 305, 1715d
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)