Neil Shubin
Neil Shubin
Neil Shubinis an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer. He is the Robert R. Bensley Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, Associate Dean of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and Professor on the Committee of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago along with being the Provost of the Field Museum of Natural History. He is best known for his discovery of Tiktaalik roseae...
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth22 December 1960
creature
Here is a creature with fins that can do push-ups.
fish shows surprising
It is a fish that shows a surprising combination of characteristics of land-living animals.
functional major
Most of the major joints of the fin are functional in this fish.
archaic branch evolution
This is not some archaic branch of evolution. This is our branch of evolution. This is our wrist. This is the evolution of our neck.
beings cabinet challenge figure file filled human kinds questions static
The world is filled with puzzles, all kinds of interesting questions and it's our challenge to figure them out. It's not just like this static file cabinet of things that human beings know. It's ever expanding.
extent figure time took
It took a long time for us to figure out really the extent of what we had.
arctic bears carry eat food polar
Another thing to get used to in the Arctic is being in the food chain. There are polar bears there, and polar bears eat people. So we carry weapons.
arctic classic inside rocks tropical
Outside, it's a classic Arctic scene. But inside those rocks is a tropical world.
convoluted products
We were not designed rationally, but are products of a convoluted history.
cancer cells community
When the finely tuned balance among the different parts of bodies breaks down, the individual creature can die. A cancerous tumor, for example, is born when one batch of cells no longer cooperates with others. By dividing endlessly, or by failing to die properly, these cells can destroy the necessary balance that makes a living individual person. Cancers break the rules that allow cells to cooperate with one another. Like bullies who break cooperative societies, cancers behave in their own best interest until they kill their larger community, the human body.
hedgehogs kind source
With respect to the ZPA, what kind of digit develops depends on how close the digit is to the source of Sonic hedgehog.
began rock
When we got back into the lab, we removed the rock from the bone, and we began to find some really significant stuff.
looking lots saw
We were always looking over our shoulders; we saw lots of tracks.