A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan

Tiktaalik roseae material from the Fram Formation combines scales, fin rays and fish-like jaws with a shortened skull roof, mobile neck, modified ear region, robust ribs and a functional wrist joint; this mosaic does not demonstrate habitual terrestrial walking or direct ancestry.

Tiktaalik roseae is a Frasnian elpistostegalian tetrapodomorph documented by NUFV 108 and referred material; its intermediate character combination does not establish direct ancestry.

The claim-linked Tiktaalik range in this package is the approximately 375 Ma Fram Formation occurrence, not a global genus duration inferred from absence elsewhere.

Documented Tiktaalik material used here comes from the Fram Formation of southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Tiktaalik combines scales and fin rays with a mobile neck, robust ribs and a pectoral appendage containing wrist-like joints while retaining a fin.

The anatomy and depositional setting support shallow marginal-water hypotheses, but habitual terrestrial walking is not directly observed.