New research on the fin development of the Australian lungfish by an international team of researchers from the University of Konstanz (Germany), Macquarie University in Sydney (Australia) and the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples (Italy) elucidates how fins evolved into limbs with hands with digits. The main finding is that in lungfish a primitive hand is already present, but that functional fingers and toes only evolved in land animals due to changes in embryonic development.
Read more