Answer to Question #99262 in Zoology for Helen Najera

Question

What is the main new piece of information about early tetrapods that contradicts the old “drying pond” hypothesis of the origins of terrestriality?

Answer 1

Old drying pond hypothesis suggested that Devonian droughts were the driving force for the evolution of tetrapods. It was suggested that  tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes driven onto the land by drought. 

This theory was contradicted by the argument that the ‘earliest’ known tetrapods with feet and legs are now thought to have been aquatic animals; evolutionists therefore argue that feet and legs evolved in a shallow water environment and were only later co-opted for use on the land.