Your Inner Fish

How Do We Know When Our Ancestors Lost Their Tails?

Unlike most other primates, apes don't have a tail. When did our ancestors lose this potentially useful appendage? Paleoanthropologist Holly Dunsworth introduces Neil Shubin to Proconsul, a fossil ape that provides some answers to that question.

How Do We Know When Our Ancestors Lost Their Tails?

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  • Your Inner Monkey: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Your Inner Monkey

    S1 E3 - 54m 40s

    Our primate progenitors had bodies a lot like those of modern monkeys and spent tens of millions of years living in trees. From them we inherited our versatile hands, amazing vision and capable brains — but also some less beneficial traits, including our bad backs and terrible sense of smell.

  • Your Inner Reptile: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Your Inner Reptile

    S1 E2 - 54m 46s

    A key moment in our evolutionary saga occurred 200 million years ago, when the ferocious reptile-like animals that roamed the Earth were in the process of evolving into shrew-like mammals. But our reptilian ancestors left their mark on many parts of the human body, including our skin, teeth and ears.

  • Your Inner Fish: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Your Inner Fish

    S1 E1 - 55m 11s

    Our arms, legs, necks and lungs were bequeathed to us by a fish that lumbered onto land some 375 million years ago. The genetic legacy of this creature can be seen today in our own DNA, including the genes used to build our hands and limbs.

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