The pectoral fin retains fin rays while its endoskeleton includes a mobile, load-transmitting wrist-like joint and distal elements arranged within the fin.
Represented range375–375 Ma
RegionsFram Formation, southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
CladesTiktaalik roseae · Elpistostegalia
Claim ledger
morphology · high
The Tiktaalik pectoral-fin endoskeleton contains a robust humerus, radius and ulna, wrist-like joints and distal radials capable of transmitting load while retaining lepidotrichial fin rays; it is a fin, not a free-digit limb or a recorded walking trace.