ยป
375 million years ago, life forms filled the oceans.
But my land lay like a locked room. Until some creature pushed at the door. It may have been Tiktaalik. A foolish-looking creature, it had: gills; scales; fins; but also: a neck; wrists; and eyes on the top of its skull. It looked like you would expect it to look, like a smooth waddling crocodile with miniature fins. But perhaps this fool was braver than the rest or luckier. And perhaps it's finns became feet, allowing it to walk out of the ocean. If true, Tiktaalik was the pioneer, the first in a long line of organisms that would settle my land.