Your Inner Fish
FEBRUARY 25, 2011
Dr. Neil Shubin
Robert R. Bensley Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
The University of Chicago
What is the talk about?
With Your Inner Fish, Professor Neil Shubin tells the story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body back millions of years, long before the first creatures walked the earth. By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria.
About our presenter
Dr. Neil Shubin
Professor Neil Shubin is Associate Dean and Robert R. Bensley Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at The University of Chicago. A John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellow, Shubin earned a Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University in 1987 and joined the University faculty as Chairman of Organismal Biology & Anatomy in 2001. Neil Shubin researches the evolutionary origin of anatomical features of animals. He has conducted field work in Greenland, China, Canada, much of North America and Africa, and he has published multiple articles in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleobiology, as well as more than 18 articles in Science and Nature.
Videos & Podcasts
Presentations
Lesson Plans
- Chick Embryology (High School)
- Design Your Plant (Elementary)
- DNA Extraction (Middle School)
- Evolutionary Adaptations of Predators in their Environment - PowerPoint
- Evolutionary Adaptations of Predators in their Environment (Middle School)
- Relatives - PowerPoint
- Relatives (Elementary)
- Then and Now (Middle School)