Why if we evolved from fish are there still fish? and why are there no transitional fossils, ie fish with legs

Question

If as I was told by the head curator of the natural history museum that we all originated from fish, why are there still fish? also you would expect to find transitional fossils fish with elbows paws etc, if you know of an example send me a link! otherwise give me a solid answer!

Answer 1

its called speciation

Answer 2

<<Why if we evolved from fish are there still fish? and why are there no transitional fossils, ie fish with legs>>

There are Devonian aged fossils which, at first, were described as fish in the 1970s.  30 years later, after the fossils were better prepared, it was noticed that they had legs.  There are transitional fossils.

<<If as I was told by the head curator of the natural history museum that we all originated from fish, why are there still fish?>>

Why on Earth shouldn't there still be fish?  When you were born, this didn't mean that your parents had to drop dead.

<<also you would expect to find transitional fossils fish with elbows paws etc>>

Some fish have elbows in their fins, and there are transitional fossils available as well.  Paws came later.

<<... if you know of an example send me a link! otherwise give me a solid answer!>>

My interest happens to centre on the evolutionary development of mammals from non-mammalian ancestors, so have a link to my website on that subject.  The solid, but brief answer is above.

Answer 3

Your not very good at being a troll yet are you?  Embarrassingly simple questions unimaginatively asked.

Incidentally, the curators report to the collections managers, who in turn report to the heads of collections, who in turn report to the director of science.  There is no "head curator"

Answer 4

have you never heard of the coelacanth?

Answer 5

They are called tadpoles.

Answer 6

There is an exhisting fish that actually walks across land (not humongeous distances) from one pond or lake to the next. I don't know what they're called but there was a picture of one in the paper a year or so ago. It would not win any beauty prize. Sorry I can't tell u more.

Answer 7

Evolution isn't a process that leads toward some inevitable end.  Fish are still better adapted for the water than humans, so they exist (well that's a simplified answer).

As for a transitional fossil, Tiktaalik was found in 2004 and publicly announced in 2006.  It's an organism that clearly has fins, yet also clearly has some semblance of a shoulder.

Answer 8

More background on tikttaalik and his pals:

* Late Devonian Paleontology: http://www.devoniantimes.org

And relatedly for "missing link" evo-deniers, just in, intermediates between flatfish and non-flat (?) fish (much later on, of course):

Nature 454, 169-170 (10 July 2008) | doi:10.1038/454169a;

Palaeontology: Squint of the fossil flatfish

Philippe Janvier

From Abstract:

Evolutionary biologists have floundered when trying to explain how the asymmetrical head of flatfishes came about. 'Gradually' is the answer arising from exquisite studies of 45-million-year-old fossil specimens.

Answer 9

Google Ancient Traces it;s a great book and real food for thought. Darwin knew there were gaps in his theory but expected the missing evidence to be found- it has not been to date. Its brilliant and poses so many questions. And no I am not a creationist.

Answer 10

*drink*

If Christians evolved from Jews, why are there still Jews?

Here's the link about fossil fish with elbows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiktaalik

Answer 11

We didn't evolve directly from fish; many different animals evolved from a much earlier common organism that moved out of the water and started living on land.  There are Many, many transitional fossils for each step.  Take a look at this web site, called Talk Origins.  It answers many questions about transitional fossils:  http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-tran...

Answer 12

we didn't evolve from fish god made us if we evolved from apes or fish or whatever there wouldn't still be fish or apes

Answer 13

SOME of the ancient fish evolved into us, other ancient fish evolved into modern fish. Some ancient fish are still around, sharks for example.

Such a large group of animals like fish don't just evolve wholly into something else, they diversify into many different things, including different species of their own group, aka fish.

Same reason apes are still there - they haven't evolved into us. Rather, their ape-like ancestors evolved into modern apes and us.