Research Links Evolution of Fins and Limbs with That of Gills

The genetic toolkit animals use to build fins and limbs is the same genetic toolkit that controls the development of part of the gill skeleton in sharks. In addition, the skeleton of any animal appendage is probably patterned by the developmental genetic program that regulates the formation of shark gills. This finding is consistent with an old theory, often discounted in science textbooks, that fins and (later) limbs evolved from the gills of an extinct vertebrate.

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