Call him Tiktaalik!

The science buff I am, I cringe whenever I hear the words missing link. It really does not describe the wondrous multibranching tree that evolution is. It is not a straight line. All along the evolutionary tree there are starts an stops, branches that extend far through history and then blossom into a variety of species. Scientific American covered what the media terms the missing link between fish and amphibians, back in December 2005! Somehow, four months later, the media caught up.

The confirmation that a species such as this existed, really sticks a dagger into the heart of creationism and its bastard progeny, intelligent design. They claim that evolution can not show transitional species, well that's a bunch of whooey, there are multiple examples of transitional species in the fossil record, like Icthyostega or check out a whole wing of the family. Hell just pick up anything by Richard Dawkins and wake up.

This is not the important part of this discovery, just a pleasant side effect.

The real importance of this discovery, is that it helps fill in a specific blank space in the fossil record. It creates a fuller picture of this amazing natural event. Hey and a big shout out t the newest member of life's family tree! TIKTAALIK!!!

Read all about it HERE.