Fins into Limbs: Evolution, Development, and Transformation

Fins into Limbs: Evolution, Development, and Transformation
344 pages

Fins into Limbs is an exploration of a longstanding evolutionary puzzle associated with the origin of tetrapods and the vertebrate invasion of land.

Brian Hall has assembled a stellar array of contributors from various fields that represent the pieces necessary for a solution. The volume is handsomely executed and also timely.

It collects a diverse body of recent research on fins and limbs emerging from evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), functional morphology, and paleontology, all of which have transformed our conception of what the fin-limb transition looked like.

Fins into Limbs serves as a necessary reference and a worthy guide to future research on this and other evolutionary transitions.

It tells us what we know, what we don't know, and what we'd really like to know. Thus it points us in the direction of which pieces are required to solve the puzzle and reminds us of the pressing need to figure out how they all fit together.


Approved by Maria