As fins evolve to help fish swim, so does the nervous system

The sensory system in fish fins evolves in parallel to fin shape and mechanics, and is specifically tuned to work with the fish's swimming behavior, according to new research from the University of Chicago. The researchers ...

Fish fins can sense touch

The human fingertip is a finely tuned sensory machine, and even slight touches convey a great deal of information about our physical environment. It turns out, some fish use their pectoral fins in pretty much the same way. ...

How skates and rays got their wings

The evolution of the striking, wing-like pectoral fins of skates and rays relied on repurposed genes, according to new research by scientists from the University of Chicago. Studying embryonic skates, they discovered that ...

The evolution of fins to limbs in the land invasion race

Why did animals with limbs win the race to invade land over those with fins? A new study comparing the forces acting on fins of mudskipper fish and on the forelimbs of tiger salamanders can now be used to analyze early fossils ...

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