Page 52 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)
P. 52
Early amphibians
The webbed feet This animal belonged
were used mainly as to a group of amphibians
paddles for swimming. that had snakelike bodies.
Acanthostega
Panderichthys
The skin may have
been camouflaged for
protection from predators.
Crassigyrinus
The tiny limbs were probably
only used for swimming.
Eryops
Although a fish, All
Panderichthys could modern land
probably breathe air.
vertebrates—
including us—are
descended from
these animals.
Stout skeleton
was adapted for
life on dry land.
The first four-legged animals on land bodies. Some of these fish, the immediate
were amphibians, much like our modern ancestors of tetrapods, evolved to survive out
frogs and salamanders. Their ancestors of the water by using their lungs and mouths
were Devonian fish like Panderichthys and for breathing. Acanthostega and Tiktaalik
Eusthenopteron, which had unusually stout may have lived at least partly on land. By
50
50 bones supporting the four fins beneath their about 358 million years ago, amphibians
US_050-051_Early_ambhibians.indd 50 10/04/18 3:33 PM
