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Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body

Neil Shubin (Goodreads Author)

4.02 · Rating details · 23,416 ratings · 1,659 reviews

Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish.

Neil Shubin, a leading paleontolo ...more

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Hardcover, 229 pages

Published January 15th 2008 by Pantheon Books

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Mar 18, 2011 Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brain-candy, science, nonfiction

How are embryos like fossils? How did we come to have the hands, arms, heads, bone structures, ears, eyes and many of the other parts we have? It turns out that homo sap is a very jury-rigged critter, an accumulation of biological compromises and re-purposed parts. One can look at fossils to see how we got from there, waaaay back there, to here, and one can also find, in comparing embryos of different species, evidence of our developmental history. DNA tells tales. Neil Shubin follows both paths ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Trevor (I sometimes get notified of comments) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: evolution, science

This really was a pleasure – another book recommended by Wendy – although what I liked most about it was possibly not the most obvious things about the book. From very early on I was in a bit of a world of my own and had started to wonder what to make of the fact that palaeontologists tend to make such wonderful science writers?

I’ve said it before, but I think Gould is a better writer than Dawkins – and that is a big statement for me, as I tend to prefer an English voice over an American one. I ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 Petra would be happy if only love was multilateral added it

Shelves: 1-awaiting-review-but-read

When is a body a body and when is it just a collection of cells? If you remove some bacteria from a clump of bacteria, you will just have a smaller clump. Bacteria are complete in themselves. But if you take away cells from, say, a placazoan, which has only four types of cells, it will either die or be disabled. Each of its cells are specialised to do a particular job and they can communicate with each other, either chemically or electrically. LIke us. Just like us, but smaller and much more pri ...more

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Aug 24, 2019 ☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ rated it it was amazing

My inner fish hails the author!

This fish, tiktaalik, of course, it was more than fish! It could do push-ups!

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Nov 07, 2007 Katherine Furman rated it it was amazing

This book delivered exactly what I wanted: an explanation of evolution from fish (and before really) to man in layman's terms, but not moron layman--well-spoken layman. I had so many 'ah-ha!' moments while reading this book that my head began to spin a little, but in a good way. For instance, when I used to think about evolution the hardest part for me to wrap my mind around was the slow progress of body parts morphing from one form to the next. What this book enlightened me to was that it's not ...more

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Aug 08, 2015 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: biology, non-fiction, evolution, science

It was refreshing to see recent (and not so recent) discoveries about evolution of the body and brain put into an accessible book. My medium rating reflects the limited impact I got from the book due to a former career in developmental neurobiology and past reading of inspired writing on evolution from the likes of Gould, Dawkins, and Wilson. Still it’s sexy and cool to hear about how structures evolved for one purpose get adapted for new functions when opportunities for expansion of life emerge It was refreshing to see recent (and not so recent) discoveries about evolution of the body and brain put into an accessible book. My medium rating reflects the limited impact I got from the book due to a former career in developmental neurobiology and past reading of inspired writing on evolution from the likes of Gould, Dawkins, and Wilson. Still it’s sexy and cool to hear about how structures evolved for one purpose get adapted for new functions when opportunities for expansion of life emerge. Thus it was for fish making the transition to land life as amphibians by “repurposing” bony structures of fins as forms that comprise bones of the limbs and paws/hands. That Shubin was involved in finding the rare fossils of transition forms above the Arctic circle brings some valuable authenticity to his story.

He is in his element as well when he covers the lineage of the bones of the mammalian inner ear from bones of the jaws of ancient fish. And he does a pretty good job keeping it lively when he covers basic embryology behind basic body plans, limb development, and the evolution of teeth, smell, and eyes. He has to spread himself so thin, that the molecular genetic revolution spawned by the discovery of pattern genes called Hox and how cell fates are determined gets such a light treatment that much of the wonder and magnificence of these advances don’t really shine.

The hook for the general reader is an altering of your mindset as highlighted in the book’s title, i.e. like Russian nesting dolls, the forms and patterns of our fish ancestors lie within us. The concept of lineage from one parent to another assures continuity even further back (he notes that he could have called the book “Your Inner Fly” given the analogous roles that Hox genes play in their development). Looking at the advances from the fish side of things, his playful perspective leads to a section near the end called “Why History Makes Us Sick”:

In many ways, we humans are the fish equivalent of a hot-rod Beetle. Take the body plan of a fish, dress it up to be a mammal, tweak and twist that mammal until it walks on two legs, talks, thinks, and has superfine control of its fingers—and you have a recipe for problems. We can dress up a fish only so much without paying a price. In a perfectly designed world—one with no history—we would not have to suffer everything from hemorrhoids to cancer.

That’s a pretty punchy way of looking at things, and he tries to make good on the conclusions by diverse examples of diseases and problems with our bodies that reflect on its evolutionary history. He just ran out of space in a 200 page book to do the subject justice. Somehow I miss the creative ability of Lewis Thomas to highlight the concept of mitochondria as bacterial invaders enslaved in all cells with the sentence along the lines of: “I sometimes wonder whether I am taking my mitochondia for a walk or whether they are taking me for a walk.” Shubin just doesn’t have such wonderful skill in writing. Few do, and many readers can still learn much from a decent B+ lecturer.
...more

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Oct 07, 2013 Max rated it really liked it

Shelves: biology

Your Inner Fish presents simply and straightforwardly a view of life that shows how much we are a part of this world no matter how much we want to think we are above it. Shubin’s easy going style with fascinating details is very engaging. Beyond the structural and developmental similarities of different species outlined in the book, most compelling were the discussions of placing a gene from one species in the embryo of another that seems distantly related. The results were startling. For exampl ...more

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Jul 07, 2009 Vince rated it it was ok

If you have a semi-extensive science background, you'll probably find this book annoyingly vague. Lots of handwaving, little in the way of explanatory detail.

If you're a fan of well-written scientific prose, you'll definitely be driven around the bend. The author was chosen to write this book because he made a terrific discovery in northern Canada a few years back -- a key missing link between fish and mammals -- not because he can write his way out of a wet paper bag. Each chapter lunges hither ...more

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May 01, 2021 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science, academic-notations, non-fiction, favorites

‘Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body’ by Neil Shubin is a wonderful science book about the evolution of living creatures, derived from the study of fossils and genes. The book connects early historical forms of life (bacteria, worms, reptiles, and yes, fish) to how human bodies look, act, and work today. There was so much in this book that was entirely new to me!

Genetically, our cells and molecules - our DNA and genes - perform the same functions in all ...more

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Apr 24, 2014 HBalikov rated it it was amazing

For those who enjoyed the writings of paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, Steven Jay Gould, here is another master in communicating complex science to the lay person. Neil Shubin has the smarts, the skills, the enthusiasm and the insights to enlighten us on the manner in which we humans are part of the world's amazing collection of life forms past and present.

Gould taught at Harvard and was associated with the American Museum of Natural History. In remarkable parallel construction, Shubin ...more

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Apr 25, 2009 Nate rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science

There are lots of titles out there in American bookstores that see the need to defend the idea of evolution from the claims of creationism and intelligent design. But this book is not one of them. Shubin assumes that you accept evolution to be a fact about the world and gets on with it. He is a fish paleontologist who teaches anatomy to first year medical students at the University of Chicago. If that sounds strange, it won’t so much after you’ve read his book. Paleontology and comparative anato ...more

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Sep 07, 2007 Kapi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science, non-fiction

Update 12/2009: Shubin and I have just released 40 figures in this book as a deck of PowerPoint slides with the hopes that educators across the country will be able to use them in their lectures on evolution and biology. They're available for free on the Tiktaalik website: http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/book-to... Hope they're useful!

Review from 12/2007: Keep an eye out for this book's release in January of 2008. I worked extensively with the author while he was writing it, and was constantly ent ...more

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Sep 13, 2016 Emma Sea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: auckland-library, sciencey-science

This is a really nice introductory book on the clues that allow us to trace our decent from single-celled bacteria. It's a good companion to David Attenborough's Rise of the Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates.

https://youtu.be/o5Z4mPQBjqA

Would suit high-school-aged readers as well as adults who haven't read on the topic before.

For followup and more in-depth reading I recommend The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life ...more

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Mar 28, 2021 Betsy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-math, evolution, nonfiction

[28 Mar 2021]
This is a short, very readable and accessible book about how humans are related to and descended from many other species of creatures. Including worms and sharks, among many others. I don't think I learned anything totally surprising, but this was a very engaging discussion of how our bodies evolved. I think Shubin must be an excellent instructor. He can tell fun stories that illustrate his point, without very much straying from the point.

I was especially interested in his chapters ...more

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Oct 13, 2020 Greta G rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-in-english, pop-science

“It’s a long way from Tiktaalik to humanity. The important, and often surprising, fact is that most of the major bones humans use to walk, throw, or grasp first appear in animals tens to hundreds of millions of years before. The first bits of our upper arm and leg are in 380-million-year-old fish like Eusthenopteron. Tiktaalik reveals the early stages in the evolution of our wrist, palm, and finger area. The first true fingers and toes are seen in 365-million-year-old amphibians like Acanthosteg ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Jimmy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

Entertaining and accessible science book. Evolution is so fascinating. I feel sorry for people who for whatever reason cannot accept who we are and where we all came from.

The book can be summed up in this passage: "All of us are modified descendants of our parents or parental genetic information. I'm descended from my mother and father, but I'm not identical to them. My parents are modified descendants of their parents. And so on."

A lot of meaning in those three words: "And so on." ...more

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Mar 07, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it really liked it

Shelves: 0-biology

Remarkable, from which most different components of other kinds human is composed

Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.

Another big banner for evolutionists' advocates is the fact that Shubin's brilliant work contrasts with the confused theses of the Creationists. The discoverer of a link between land creatures and fish uses numerous examples to show how, in the course of the development of higher life forms, several properties Remarkable, from which most different components of other kinds human is composed

Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.

Another big banner for evolutionists' advocates is the fact that Shubin's brilliant work contrasts with the confused theses of the Creationists. The discoverer of a link between land creatures and fish uses numerous examples to show how, in the course of the development of higher life forms, several properties, and physiological peculiarities could last even into humans.
Where appropriate for fish, reptiles or birds meaningful and advantageous specializations can take their revenge in a primate body. Thus, there are various Achilles vision and design errors. Such as the tendency to intestinal rupture and hiccups, the poorly designed pathways of some nerves, and some non-optimized constructions in the human body. Many civilization diseases are caused by the manifold influences of hundreds of millions of years, in which unfortunately sometimes not always useful gifts of mostly extinct ancestors lurk.
The illustrations and drawings, which depict the development of the specialization of an initially utterly different kind in their course up to the final placement in the human being, apparently illustrate this extraordinary variety of passing the time. Whereby in some of the representations, one or the other eye rubbing may be necessary. To allow the derivation, which one would never have come of its own accord, as a fact to take on itself. It turns out, how about almost immeasurably many modifications abilities from entirely different living environments are adapted to the particular conditions, which correspond optimally to the current needs of the "gene host" (own creation).
The objects of observation are insects, fish, reptiles, and worms whose various body parts such as eyes, bones, internal organs, teeth, and gills are represented in their metamorphosis as components of other forms of life. The research and theses are based on genetic analyzes, fossils, and studies of embryonic development. Especially with the latter, as every expectant parent knows to report, we can point to our cross-species gene pool in an impressive way that lets us stand in awe of the genius of nature.
Thus, the human inner ear was formed from the lateral organs of the fish, the ear ossicles from jar bones and the mitochondria from unicellular bacteria. In particular, the micro-level, including viruses and bacteria, in which the first primitive life forms emerged, holds in other respects even more unexplored, exciting insights.
Because the tiny life forms were not only the basis of all life but also increased a lot later with a lasting effect on the design of the ecosphere. The extent to which many of our bodily functions, DNA, metabolism, and heredity have been influenced and modified by bacteria and viruses is challenging to assess seriously from the current state of research, which is in its infancy. There are many theories in this regard and only rare, contentious evidence.
For future generations of scientists, this represents a license to enter a new world of research. In contrast to now, where paleontologists of the 21st and 22nd century can only demonstrate a connection through visible traces of primeval ancestors that can be traced back to the skeleton or organs.
In the 20th century, an alliance was formed with biologists and biochemists. Also, in its wake, much more impressive details, not just how individual fragments of our physique were created, will come to light. However, up to individual cells and their modes of functioning, an endlessly branched pedigree will open, at the temporary end of which human stands.

Bemerkenswert, aus welch verschiedensten Komponenten anderer Arten sich der Mensch zusammensetzt

Ein großes weiteres Banner für das Bestreben der Befürworter der Evolution ist es, das Shubin mit seinem brillanten Werk vor die wirren Thesen der Kreationisten stellt. Der Entdecker eines Bindeglieds zwischen Landlebewesen und Fisch belegt anhand zahlreicher Beispiele, wie im Zuge der Entwicklung höherer Lebensformen etliche Eigenschaften und physiologische Besonderheiten bis in den Menschen überdauern konnten.
Wobei für Fische, Reptilien oder Vögel sinnvolle und vorteilhafte Spezialisierungen sich in einem Primatenkörper durchaus rächen können. So gibt es dadurch bedingt diverse Achillessehen und Konstruktionsfehler. Wie die Tendenz zu Eingeweidebrüchen und Schluckauf, die schlecht konzipierten Bahnen einiger Nerven und generell einige nicht optimiert scheinende Konstruktionen im menschlichen Körper. Viele Zivilisationskrankheiten sind bedingt durch die vielfältigen Einflüsse hunderter Jahrmillionen, in denen leider mitunter nicht immer nützliche Geschenke größtenteils ausgestorbener Urahnen lauern.
Die Illustrationen und Zeichnungen, anhand derer die Entwicklung der Spezialisierung einer ursprünglich ganz anderen Art in ihrem Verlauf bis zur finalen Platzierung im Menschen aufgezeichnet wird, verdeutlichen diese wundersame Spielart der vergehenden Zeit auf anschauliche Weise. Wobei bei einigen der Darstellungen schon das eine oder andere Augenreiben vonnöten sein kann. Um die Herleitung, auf die man von selbst niemals gekommen wäre, als Fakt auf sich wirken zu lassen. Es zeigt sich, wie über schier unermesslich viele Modifikationen Fähigkeiten aus komplett differenten Lebensumgebungen an die speziellen, den momentanen Bedürfnissen des „Genwirts“ (Eigenkreation) optimal entsprechenden, Gegebenheiten angepasst werden.
Als Anschauungsobjekte dienen Insekten, Fische, Reptilien und Würmer, deren verschiedenste Körperteile wie Augen, Knochen, innere Organe, Zähne und Kiemen in ihrer Metamorphose zu Komponenten anderer Lebensformen dargestellt wird. Die Forschungs- und Thesengrundlage bilden genetische Analysen, Fossilien sowie Studien der Embryonalentwicklung. Speziell mit letzterer lässt sich, wie jedes werdende Elternteil zu berichten weiß, auf atemberaubende und vor der Genialität der Natur in Ehrfurcht erstarren lassender Weise, unser artübergreifender Genpool darstellen. So entstand aus den Seitenlinienorganen der Fische das menschliche Innenohr, aus Kieferknochen Gehörknöchelchen und aus einzelligen Bakterien die Mitochondrien.
Speziell die Mikroebene samt Viren und Bakterien, in der die ersten primitiven Lebensformen entstanden, birgt in anderer Hinsicht noch mehr bisher unerforschte, spannende Erkenntnisse. Denn die winzigen Lebensformen waren nicht nur die Grundlage alles Lebens, sondern stiegen auch viel später ein weiteres Mal mit nachhaltiger Wirkung in die Gestaltung der Ökosphäre ein.
Wie weit viele unserer körperlichen Funktionsweisen, DNA, Stoffwechsel und Vererbung von Bakterien und Viren beeinflusst und modifiziert wurden, lässt sich vom momentanen, in den Kinderschuhen steckenden, Stand der Forschung aus betrachtet schwer seriös einschätzen. Es gibt diesbezüglich viele Theorien und nur rare, strittige Beweise. Das stellt für kommende Generationen von Wissenschaftlern einen Freibrief für den Eintritt in eine neue Welt der Forschung dar. Denn wo jetzt größtenteils nur anhand offensichtlicher, an Skelett oder Organen nachweisbaren Spuren urzeitlicher Ahnen eine Verbindung bewiesen werden kann, wird den Paläontologen des 21. und 22. Jahrhunderts eine Allianz mit Biologen und Biochemikern beschieden sein. Und in dessen Gefolge werden noch wesentlich beeindruckendere Details, nicht nur darüber wie einzelne Fragmente unserer Physis erschaffen wurden, ans Tageslicht kommen. Sondern bis zu einzelnen Zellen und deren Funktionsweisen hin wird sich ein endlos verzweigter Stammbaum auftun, an dessen vorläufigen Ende der Mensch steht. ...more

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Aug 13, 2021 Camelia Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: life-science, science

Part paleontology, part genetic analysis, Your Inner Fish is a book of evolution. In each chapter, a different link between the human body and our fish/fly/amphibian/bacteria ancestors is described. Each chapter comes with nice illustrations. The comparative genetics is new (to me) and fascinating. The book also includes a lot of long established facts. Chapter Ten Ears brings back fond memories of mine. There was a biology book I read when I was ten, from which I learned that my ear bones came ...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club, non-fiction, science

I really enjoyed this exploration into our human body and how it reveals pieces of our evolutionary ancestors.

You certainly don't need a science degree or much of a biology background at all to follow the steps from gills to ears or larynx. I would have appreciated more detail and a little less hand waving, but that's my inner scientist showing through.

He had a very detailed bibliography, with not just titles he drew on and others to explore, but commentary on why they might be useful. I love a ...more

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Feb 04, 2020 Max rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, biology

Absolutely loved this book. As a biologist I am always interested in evolution, and this one didn't disappoint. The author writes well and has a great sense of humor. Also very readable for people with no background in science.

And Tiktaalik is just cool. I wish I could see it alive. It could (probably) do push-ups! ...more

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Dec 29, 2020 Montzalee Wittmann rated it it was amazing

Your Inner Fish
A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
By: Neil Shubin
This was a terrific look at how nature was a recycler of ideas! Through the years if something didn't work nature didn't necessarily make a new creature but used recycled ideas on creatures to see where that would lead. The book just didn't cover paleontology but also genetics, biology, and more. It was very informative and interesting! The way the information is presented is light and comfortable, touch o ...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Magila rated it it was ok

Shelves: quit, non-fiction, science

I threw in the towel with this book about half way through. I found it to be dull, and missing a voice. It feels mostly as if the author is trying to convince his audience that evolution is real. It's written part to the layperson, part to the scientist or student, it's neither a textbook not a successful popular work to me. I love scientific books, and could point folks to a few which I believe were amongst the best that I read in the last year or two, but this book just misses the mark.

I woul ...more

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Feb 10, 2018 Fatma rated it really liked it

As a first step through Darwinism , Your inner fish is an ideal beginning . Paleoantological , anatomical , embryological and genetic features supporting evolution are fluently presented through the book . My academic knowledge helped me a lot but were a reason as well for a brainstorm to start , for Shubin's explanations were sometimes very superficials or maybe too simplified . That is why I must read more and more about evolution in order to decipher , perfectly , the answer of a questio ...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Lois Bujold rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

I read this a few years back, but was reminded of it by the inclusion of its author and materials on the PBS DVD "What Darwin Never Knew" (2009), which I caught belatedly tonight. Excellent science writing by the actual practitioner -- highly recommended. Shubin describes his search for the fossil fish that represents the first proto-quadrupeds on land; later, the discovery is backed up and deepened by a directed search for the genes and their mechanisms that made the differences.

Ta, L. ...more

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Apr 26, 2021 Barry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science

Compelling, fascinating and eminently readable for lay person.

Back when I was still at school, I disliked biology. My middle school biology teacher made us copy the whole textbook into our notebook. And to get good grades on her tests, we had to write down answers exactly like our textbook, word by word. Then, we had to dissect frogs ... didn’t enjoy that one too. The, in high school I took a physiology class where we had to memorize all these bones. I dropped the class and never took another b ...more

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Feb 03, 2020 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: science

A seminal popular science book that talks about the fundamentals of evolutionary development biology by one of the discoverers of the famous Tiktaalik fossil, a key transitional fossil between fish and amphibians.

The book goes through the basic body plans of all land vertebrates and their similarities, best explained by a common origin and then proceeds to describe the search for that common origin and the amazing discovery of Tiktaalik. It then goes into various elements of land vertebrate biol ...more

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Aug 25, 2021 Ava Trueworthy rated it it was ok

cried at least six times while reading this. the book had nothing to do with it, but i’m still lowering the rating

also i’m dropping ap bio soooo

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Oct 30, 2011 Karl-O rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Everyone interested in Evolution

Recommended to Karl-O by: Trevor (I sometimes get notified of comments)

Shelves: non-fiction, evolution

I knew about this book from Trevor's review some time ago. I saw it in the Bibliography of some of Dawkins' books and it that of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne which I recently read, and I got interested to read it very soon. It is truly a remarkable work. If not for anything, just because it shows how evolution can be very helpful in making advances in Medicine. Neil Shubin, who is very well versed in Comparative Anatomy, shows how certain parts of our body can only be understood in li ...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Mark Longo rated it really liked it

As a biologist I'm often amazed and dismayed when people talk about history and limit their thoughts to just the past few hundred or thousand or even hundred thousand years. There are living trees as old as human civilization. American history represents 1 ten-millionth of the history of life on earth. And the thing is, that entire timeline of life on earth matters. We were not human for much, much longer than we've been human and all that history is still inside us, affecting us in innumerable ...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Tanja Berg rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, evolution

The reason I read this type of book is to learn something new, or preferably, a whole set of new things. The book gets a star deduction for not bringing any novel concepts into my world view. It is however a perfectly readable, concise book which traces our organs back through time and their origins in simpler creatures. A mix of fascinating fact and mindnumbing detail.

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Science and Inquiry: April 2021 - Your Inner Fish	12	105	Aug 06, 2021 12:52AM
Non Fiction Book ...: October/November 2020 - Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin	25	50	Nov 25, 2020 02:20AM
Science Book Club: Your Inner Fish	6	31	Dec 06, 2019 12:34AM
Summer Reading Reccomendation	1	8	Aug 15, 2016 07:29PM