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YOUR INNER FISH
YOUR INNER FISH
A J O U R N E Y I N TO T H E 3 . 5 - B I L L I O N - Y E A R H I S T O RY O F T H E H U M A N B O DY
NEIL SHUBIN
PANTHEON BOOKS, NEW YORK
Copyright © 2008 by Neil Shubin All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Pantheon Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. All illustrations by Kalliopi Monoyios unless otherwise noted. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shubin, Neil. Your inner fish : a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body / By Neil Shubin.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. eISBN: 978-0-307-37716-6 1. Human anatomy—Popular works. 2. Human evolution—Popular works. I. Title. qm26.s58 2008 611—dc22 2007024699 www.pantheonbooks.com v1.0
TO MICHELE
CONTENTS
Preface ix
ONE
Finding Your Inner Fish 3
TWO THREE
Getting a Grip 28 Handy Genes 44 Getting Ahead 81 Teeth Everywhere 60
FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN
The Best-Laid (Body) Plans 97 Adventures in Bodybuilding 116
EIGHT
Making Scents 139 Vision 148 Ears 158
NINE TEN ELEVEN
The Meaning of It All 173 Epilogue 199
Notes, References, and Further Reading 203 Acknowledgments 215 Index 219
P R E FAC E
This book grew out of an extraordinary circumstance in my life. On account of faculty departures, I ended up directing the human anatomy course at the medical school of the University of Chicago. Anatomy is the course during which nervous first-year medical students dissect human cadavers while learning the names and organization of most of the organs, holes, nerves, and vessels in the body. This is their grand entrance to the world of medicine, a formative experience on their path to becoming physicians. At first glance, you couldn’t have...