Did the First Tetrapods Fish Like this?

[mjmurphy <4mjmu@rogers.com>]

Kind of an addendum to the Tiktaalik thread.  From Nature.com:

"Zoologists have found a remarkable fish that can wriggle from Africa's 
tropical swamps to snaffle a snack on land.

The eel catfish, Channallabes apus, catches unsuspecting victims by arching 
upwards and descending upon prey, trapping an insect against the ground 
before sucking it up. It performs this trick thanks to a bendy neck 
supported by specialized vertebrae, which allows it to hover over prey 
without needing fins or arms to hold up its head.

The same trick may have been used by the very first vertebrates to venture 
onto land, the researchers speculate."


Full Story at:

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060410/full/060410-9.html

Cheers,

M.J.Murphy