Week 2: First impression

As I began to read the beginning of Your Inner Fish, it became very clear how the majority of the "hard evidence" that Dr. Shubin used for the basis of his findings was the fossil that he and his team found, Tiktaalik. I have never truly been extremely interested in paleontology, nor have I ever studied the subject entirely, yet Dr. Shubin phrases and relates the subject in a way that makes it easy for me to understand. I like how he introduces the text by explaining to the readers that one must physically go out and gather the evidence necessary for answers to any hypothesis and this is exactly what he did. Dr. Shubin and his team ventured to the North Pole and found Tiktaalik. I believe that this is a perfect example of science. A scientist forms a question, goes and gathers factual evidence to answer it, found some facts that made a new hypothesis necessary, and then continued to search for the correct answers, leading to finding Tiktaalik. This is exactly what the scientific method is and I really enjoyed reading about this success. Tiktaalik lived almost 400 million years ago (375 million years ago to be exact). I have added a picture of the fossil to this post since I truly found it very interesting looking and it shows how this fossil is different than a fish but not quite something else that we currently recognize as an amphibian or a mammal. The text that I have read so far does not entirely surprise me nor does it challenge my previous thoughts or ideas. I have been told by my family members and taught in science classes that evolution is a scientific theory and that humans were not created by the ideas that creationists believe. On the other hand, I do think that the evidence shown in the text and the way it is explained could cause many creationists to question their ideas and wonder how this fossil has an effect on the creation/evolution of humans and other species today. I have not read a great amount of this book; however, I am intrigued and look forward to learning and reading more.