The Senegal bichir (Polypterus senegalus)WIKIMEDIA, MITTERNACHT90Raising Senegal bichir (Polypterus senegalus), or dinosaur eels, on land lends the semi-terrestrial fish physiological and behavioral changes that may reflect similar changes experienced by extinct species that made the transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitats millions of years ago, according to a study published in Nature this week (August 27).
As a postdoc at McGill University in Montreal, Emily Standen—who’s now based at the University of Ottawa—raised 111 two-month-old bichirs in laboratory environments that forced them to use their fins to walk on a substrate rather than propel them through the water. After raising the fish in such conditions for eight months, she compared the experimental animals’ development to that of bichirs of the same age that she had reared in aquaria. “The bones in the pectoral girdle—the bones that support the fins—changed their shape,” Standen told The Verge. “And their clavicles became elongated.” In addition the land-reared fish behaved differently than their water-raised kin. “Fish raised on land walk with a more effective gait,” Standen said. “They plant their legs closer to the body’s ...
