Tiktaalik rosea
Winner - Lanzendorf Paleoart Prize, 3-Dimensional Art, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2008.
I sculpted this model for the species’ public debut and scientific announcement in 2006. Collaborating with the research team of paleontologists Neil Shubin, Ted Daeschler, and Farish Jenkins, I referenced a cast of the somewhat flattened holotype, NUFV 108, to create the flesh model, which is posed lifting its head above the water surface on its sturdy fin/limbs.
Nature 440, 757-763 (6 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature04639
A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan
Edward B. Daeschler, Neil H. Shubin and Farish A. Jenkins, Jr
Reconstructing Tiktaalik.mov