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Fin-to-finger transition study omits several taxa at the transition

Tuesday, August 11, 2026 6:49

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Bayramov, Mednikov and Zaraisky 2026
described the academic version of the fin-to-finger transition (Fig 1).

Figure 1. From Bayramov, Mednikov and Zariasky 2026 showing how (in their view based on cherry-picking taxa) the tetrapod manus evolved. Note the big, really big key transition imagined here between Tiktaalik and Amblystoma, the extant Mole salamander. Compare to figure 2 based on the LRT with more taxa.

Problem is, the authors cherry-picked their taxa
and omitted the correct = more parsimonious taxa at the fin-to-finger transition (Fig 2) recovered by the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340 taxa).

Figure 2. Origin of fingers according to taxa in the LRT. Trypanognathus is featured as the first tetrapod with fingers. Click to enlarge. WordPress automatically reduces tall graphics.

Worse yet,
the medial carpals and medial phalanges in the Bayramov, Mednikov and Zaraisky hypothesis (Fig 1) move from parallel to serial = separate branches to aligned phalanges.

No author, editor or referee noticed this untenable and apparently magic shift.

By contrast,
in the LRT hypothesis the radius remains just the radius (Figs 2, 3) and the phalanges evolve from carpals and metacarpals, serial and aligned from the get-go (Fig 2).

In other words, the complete set of flexing extending digits evolved from simple single elements that slowly added phalanges in the LRT hypothesis.

Surprisingly, this remains a ‘fringe’ = untested, ignored hypothesis.

Figure 3. Vertebrates at the transition from stem-tetrapod to tetrapod in the LRT. Trypanognathus is the most primitive known tetrapod in the LRT, despite its late appearance in the latest Carboniferous. Click to enlarge.

So, if you’re planning to go to any university that teaches paleontology,
you might want to keep this alternate hypothesis tucked away somewhere. Paleontology is traditionally slow to accept obvious hypotheses, but quick to adopt untenable hypotheses that require more imagination and…. some magic.

Let me know if the LRT hypothesis of fin-to-finger transition has a competing hypothesis that better explains what the data presents.

References
Bayramov AV, Mednikov DN and Zaraisky AG 2026. Evolutionary pathway and genetic mechanisms of fin-to-limb transition in vertebrates. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 14:1784849. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2026.1784849

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/08/11/fin-to-finger-transition-study-omits-several-taxa-at-the-transition/

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