A 380 million year old fossil fish which features in an article by R. Cloutier, A.M. Clement, and M.S.Y. Lee et al, in the current edition of Nature has provided us with a critical insight into the evolution of the vertebrate hand. Elpistostegi watsonii is the most complete epistostegalian (tetrapod-like fish) found to date. Discovered in Upper Devonian strata in Canada. Its importance lies in the preservation of the complete anatomy of the pectoral fin, which provides insigbht into the evolution of the tetrapod upper limb, and “further blurs[s] the line between fish and land vertebrates.” [1]
