Tiktaalik roseae is a Frasnian elpistostegalian tetrapodomorph documented by NUFV 108 and referred material; its intermediate character combination does not establish direct ancestry.
claim:taxon:tiktaalik:taxonomyTiktaalik
A Frasnian elpistostegalian known from articulated material that combines fish-like features with a mobile neck, robust ribs and a fin containing wrist-like joints.
Represented range375–375 Ma
Content packagetetrapod-transition
PBDBtxn:77132
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
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.
claim:taxon:tiktaalik:fossil-rangeDocumented Tiktaalik material used here comes from the Fram Formation of southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.
claim:taxon:tiktaalik:biogeographyTiktaalik combines scales and fin rays with a mobile neck, robust ribs and a pectoral appendage containing wrist-like joints while retaining a fin.
claim:taxon:tiktaalik:morphologyThe anatomy and depositional setting support shallow marginal-water hypotheses, but habitual terrestrial walking is not directly observed.
claim:taxon:tiktaalik:ecologyKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body planDaeschler, E.B.; Shubin, N.H.; Jenkins, F.A. Jr · 2006 · DOI 10.1038/nature04639
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933
- The pectoral fin of Tiktaalik roseae and the origin of the tetrapod limbShubin, N.H.; Daeschler, E.B.; Jenkins, F.A. Jr · 2006 · DOI 10.1038/nature04637