Re: Back-evolution of limbs.

[Jeff Hecht <jhecht@world.std.com>]

>Earl Wood wrote:
>I would like to insert a question here........ was the original limb composed
>of five digits
>before going onshore , or developed after becoming terrestrial ?

I believe the primitive number is not well determined. Acanthostega,
considered the most primitive tetrapod known, had eight digits, as did Ted
Daeschler's "fish with fingers" (see the August Earth), but all surviving
terrestrial forms have five or fewer digits. -- Jeff Hecht