Tiktaalik, named for the Inukitut word for burbots, is the epitome of a "transitional fossil," or a specimen that shows features from its ancestors and its decendents. Tiktaalik in particular shows the transition between fish and terrestrial tetrapods. This one-point-eight meter long fish has normal "fishy" features, like scales and gills, but also sports lungs, wrists, and other features of four-legged animals. The evolution of limbs with wrists was significant, because it allowed animals like Tiktaalik and their decendents to prop themselves up in shallow water and eventually crawl onto land. If this never happened, animal life might still be stuck in the ocean! Tiktaalik lived in the shallow waters of the Devonian Period in Canada, which was almost centered on the Equator at the time. Its head was very similar to that of a crocodile; flat with eyes raised to the top of the skull. The combination of its raised eyes, sharp teeth, and supportive limbs would have made it an effective predator, able to rest on the beds of waterways watching unsuspecting prey float past. Small fish would have been attracted to the shallows due to the large amount of leaves dropping off the new deciduous plants, making them the perfect place for a predator like Tiktaalik to lurk.