"I told you this would exist."
April 22, 2020 4:22 PM   Subscribe

Dr Jenny Clack, FRS, vertebrate palaeontologist, died on 26 March, aged 72.

"A defining stage in vertebrate evolution was the origin of tetrapods, the limbed vertebrates, some 380m years ago. Remarkable discoveries in East Greenland in 1987 by Jenny Clack, who has died aged 72 from cancer, transformed our understanding of this critical stage in the history of life on Earth." (Guardian obit)

The New Statesman had a good profile of her a few years ago.
posted by thatwhichfalls (13 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by ambulocetus at 4:33 PM on April 22, 2020


great photo
posted by neuron at 4:45 PM on April 22, 2020 [1 favorite]


I just taught vertebrate evolution last week in my intro class. We really highlight Tiktaalik now, but we never would have known to look for it without Dr. Clack.

___.....---""" . ""--..____
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. _.--._ /|
. .'()..()`. / /
( `-.__.-' ) ( ( .
. \ / \ \
. \ / ) ) .
.' -.__.- `.-.-'_.'
. .' /-____-\ `.-' .
\ /-.____.-\ /-.
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|/\/\| |/\/\|
posted by hydropsyche at 4:49 PM on April 22, 2020 [9 favorites]


(I am sad that my ASCII tetrapod didn't come out better)
posted by hydropsyche at 4:50 PM on April 22, 2020 [3 favorites]


Dr Clack would have been able to reconstruct it.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 4:52 PM on April 22, 2020 [18 favorites]


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posted by clew at 5:20 PM on April 22, 2020


I love the "Beam me up, Scotty" tunic and brooch in her photo...

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posted by jim in austin at 5:54 PM on April 22, 2020


I had never heard of Dr. Clack -- thank you for helping me learn of her life and achievements.
posted by brainwane at 1:12 AM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]


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posted by daybeforetheday at 3:24 AM on April 23, 2020


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posted by filtergik at 3:32 AM on April 23, 2020


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posted by biogeo at 1:14 PM on April 23, 2020


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posted by Kattullus at 1:55 PM on April 23, 2020


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posted by chance at 3:30 PM on April 25, 2020


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