No fish that we know of can live in lava” (p.

And he generally makes effective use of humor for example, of searching for fossils, he writes: “Volcanic rocks are mostly out. 141), and compares the function of an inner ear bone to a plunger (p. He uses analogy well in clarifying points for instance, he compares the complexity of a smell made of many molecules to a musical chord made of many notes (p. Shubin makes this story accessible by maintaining a tight focus on the essentials of each topic while minimizing his use of technical terms. Your Inner Fish seeks to reveal the evolutionary history of humans as we travel down the branches of our family tree toward its trunk, passing fossils such as Tiktaalik and finding our “inner fish” along the way. Yet another child shouted “Maybe it is both.” Tiktaalik’s message is so straightforward even preschoolers can see it (p. Choosing the raised hand of one of these kids, I heard: No, no it isn’t a crocodile, it is a fish, because it has scales and fins. Other children started to voice their dissent. When queried why, he said that like a crocodile or lizard it has a flat head with eyes on top. The first child said it was a crocodile or an alligator. Or me the greatest moment of the whole media blitz was. In 2006, Neil Shubin made history when he announced his discovery of a “missing link”: a new fossil species showing characteristics that bridge the evolutionary gap between two different types of organisms. From them we inherited our versatile hands, amazing vision and capable brains - but also some less beneficial traits, including our bad backs and terrible sense of smell.Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, by Neil Shubin. Our primate progenitors had bodies a lot like those of modern monkeys and spent tens of millions of years living in trees. 'Your Inner Monkey' repeats Wed., April 22 at 11 p.m.

But our reptilian ancestors left their mark on many parts of the human body, including our skin, teeth and ears. A key moment in our evolutionary saga occurred 200 million years ago, when the ferocious reptile-like animals that roamed the Earth were in the process of evolving into shrew-like mammals. 'Your Inner Reptile' repeats Wed., April 15 at 11 p.m. The genetic legacy of this creature can be seen today in our own DNA, including the genes used to build our hands and limbs. Our arms, legs, necks and lungs were bequeathed to us by a fish that lumbered onto land some 375 million years ago. 'Your Inner Fish' repeats Wed., April 8 at 11 p.m. Click on a body part in this interactive feature and meet your inner animals. Ghosts of our ancestors are present in our bodies today.

Finding your inner fish