<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/44cac0b2-cfc3-480b-bfa7-0350290a4bb4/B73A32FB-6DD3-4F75-BF3F-06379DE03595/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php"><P><A href="http://bpr3.org/?p=52"><IMG height="50" width="80" alt="Blogging on Peer-Reviewed Research" src="http://bpr3.org/images/rbicons/ResearchBlogging-Medium-White.png" class="inset" /></A>Imagine watching a movie where every now and then, key frames have been cut out. The film seems stilted and disjointed and you have to rely on logic to fill in the gaps in the plots. Evolutionary biologists face a similar obstacle when trying to piece together how living species arose from their common ancestors. It's like watching a film with a minimum of footage; the species alive today are just a few frames at the very end, and the fossil record represents a smattering of moments throughout the film's length. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php">the gaps</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php">are being slowly filled in</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php"><A href="http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/earliest-bat-shows-flight-developed-before-echolocation/">With</A> <A href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/04/tiktaalik_makes_another_gap.php">amazing</A> <A href="http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2007/03/yet_another_transitional_form.php">regularity</A>, <A href="http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordpress.com/2007/12/24/whales-evolved-from-small-aquatic-hoofed-ancestors/">new</A> fossils are being unearthed that bridge the gap between existing specimens</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php"> "<A href="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html">transitional fossils</A>" are always greeted with great relish</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php">They act as <A href="http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19726451.700-evolution-what-missing-link.html">handy visual aids</A> for explaining the story of evolution to those with a dearth of imagination</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php">a new transitional fossil that is one of the most dramatic yet. Its name is <I>Heteronectes</I> (meaning "different swimmer") and it's a flatfish, but not as you know it</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/9390C450-59C8-4FF7-A2F7-469F5140DBB0" alt="Heteronectes_head.jpg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/missing_link_flatfish_has_eye_thats_moved_halfway_across_its.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/C45B6B1B-26F3-4643-9E2D-4CD6B2E4ED3D" alt="Amphistium_reconstruction_p.jpg" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/B73A32FB-6DD3-4F75-BF3F-06379DE03595/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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