ArticleScientific reports2016
Characteristic tetrapod musculoskeletal limb phenotype emerged more than 400 MYA in basal lobe-finned fishes.
Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative analysis of conserved non-coding elements identifies gene regulatory networks rewired during the water-to-land transition in vertebrates.Biologia futura · 2026Article
- Ontogeny and Homology of the Shoulder Joint and Forelimb Muscles in Frogs and Toads (Lissamphibia: Anura).Journal of morphology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary pathway and genetic mechanisms of fin-to-limb transition in vertebrates.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Genomic screening of fish-specific genes in gnathostomes and their functions in fin development.Development, growth & differentiation · 2024Article
- Locomotory behaviour of early tetrapods from Blue Beach, Nova Scotia, revealed by novel microanatomical analysis.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Evolution of forelimb musculoskeletal function across the fish-to-tetrapod transition.Science advances · 2021Article
- Connecting muscle development, birth defects, and evolution: An essential role for muscle connective tissue.Current topics in developmental biology · 2019Review
- Development of zebrafish paired and median fin musculature: basis for comparative, developmental, and macroevolutionary studies.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Comparative anatomy of zebrafish paired and median fin muscles: basis for functional, developmental, and macroevolutionary studies.Journal of anatomy · 2018Article
- Evolution of the muscular system in tetrapod limbs.Zoological letters · 2018Review
- Inter- and Intraspecific Variations in the Pectoral Muscles of Common ChimpanzeesBioMed research international · 2018Article
- Musculoskeletal anatomy of the pelvic fin of Polypterus: implications for phylogenetic distribution and homology of pre- and postaxial pelvic appendicular muscles.Journal of anatomy · 2017Article
- Muscle development in the sharkFrontiers in zoology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Previous accounts of the origin of tetrapod limbs have postulated a relatively sudden change, after the split between extant lobe-finned fish and tetrapods, from a very simple fin phenotype with only two muscles to the highly complex tetrapod condition. The evolutionary changes that led to the muscular anatomy of tetrapod limbs have therefore remained relatively unexplored. We performed dissections, histological sections, and MRI scans of the closest living relatives of tetrapods: coelacanths and lungfish. Combined with previous comparative, developmental and paleontological information, our findings suggest that the characteristic tetrapod musculoskeletal limb phenotype was already present in the Silurian last common ancestor of extant sarcopterygians, with the exception of the autopod (hand/foot) structures, which have no clear correspondence with fish structures. Remarkably, the two major steps in this long process - leading to the ancestral fin anatomy of extant sarcopterygians and limb anatomy of extant tetrapods, respectively - occurred at the same nodes as the two major similarity bottlenecks that led to the striking derived myological similarity between the pectoral and pelvic appendages within each taxon. Our identification of probable homologies between appendicular muscles of sarcopterygian fish and tetrapods will allow more detailed reconstructions of muscle anatomy in early tetrapods and their relatives.
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