14 DAY TRIAL // University of Cambridge investigators have determined in a new study that early tetrapods (four-legged animals) did not use all their limbs for moving around. While the front feet were used for pulling their bodies forward, the hind limbs were used to maintain balance.
Scientists now believe that these early ancestors of all land-based species most likely moved like mudskipper fish do today. The latter use their front fins like crotches, dragging the rest of their bodies along for the ride.
A reconstruction of the early animals was published in the May 24 issue of the top scientific journal Nature. The dataset is based on an extensive analysis of dozens of fossilized tetrapod specimens.
“Our reconstruction demonstrates that the old idea, often seen in popular books and museum displays, of Ichthyostega looking and walking like a large salamander, with four sturdy legs, is incorrect,” the research team explains.