Baby Crocodile-Like Fossils Just Blew up a Long-Held Evolution Theory

'A completely different story': 300 million-year-old fossils reveal the first vertebrate land dwellers weren't what we thought, researchers claim

Our ancient four-legged ancestors didn't have an amphibian-like life cycle when they began walking on land, according to a new study of rare fossils found near Chicago.

Fossils challenge assumptions on how animals adapted to land

NEW YORK — Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to that of today's frogs.

Ancient Crocodile-Like Babies Challenge What We Know About Tetrapod Evolution

Learn more about the fossilized baby embolomeres that show no signs of amphibian-like traits, changing our understanding of early tetrapod evolution.

Baby crocodile-like fossils just blew up a long-held evolution theory

Turns out, the first animals to walk on land weren't amphibians.

How New Fossil Discoveries Just Rewrote the History of Land Life

The post How New Fossil Discoveries Just Rewrote the History of Land Life appeared first on A-Z Animals.We’ve all seen some version of the classic evolutionary diagram. A fish crawls out of a primordial swamp, sprouts legs, transforms into something resembling a modern salamander or frog, and eventually paves the way for reptiles, mammals, and ultimately, us. For decades, this was science textbook gospel. The assumption was that because the earl…