PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (“the Academy”) opened a new exhibition titled, Life Onto Land: The Devonian, centered around a crucial period of Earth’s evolution, the Devonian Period, more than 350 million years ago. Since November 11, 2023, the Life Onto Land exhibition presents animation, giant murals and models, CT scans, rare fossils specimens, and maps sharing key elements and discoveries of the Devonian, all to illuminate the catalytic period that transformed Earth into what people understand as the world today.

A star of the exhibition is Tiktaalik roseae (“Tiktaalik”), one of the most important paleontological discoveries of recent decades and one made by the Academy’s very own research team (in collaboration with colleagues from The University of Chicago and Harvard University). Tiktaalik returns to Philadelphia for the exhibition. The team that discovered Tiktaalik onEllesmere Island in the Nunavut Territory of Canada was co-led by celebrated Curator and Chair of Vertebrate Zoology Edward “Ted” Daeschler, PhD, who is retiring this year from the Academy following more than 30 years of explorations and studies into Devonian-age fossil vertebrates that have taken him from Pennsylvania to Arctic Canada and Antarctica.

“There is no better place to tell the story of the Devonian Period than the Academy,” said Ted Daeschler. “The Academy is a leader in exploration and study of Devonian-age fossil vertebrates, and from Philadelphia, you can find Devonian rocks and fossils just a few hours' drive away. The fossils you see in Life Onto Land, many of them from Pennsylvania, tell the story of YOU. Well before dinosaurs, this period was the first time we begin to see the origin of the body plan that is shared by all limbed vertebrates and the development of the land-based ecosystems on Earth that we all depend on.”

“In the way the stars of the night sky can put our own existence into perspective and renew appreciation of how our extraordinary world took shape within the vast cosmos,” said Marina McDougall, Vice President, Experience and Engagement, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, “this exhibition inspires fascination for how our own arms, fingers and toes evolved from fish fins, and today’s forests emerged from ecosystems that first came into being hundreds of millions of years ago during the Devonian.”

A more than 350-million-year-old finned vertebrate, the transitional fossil Tiktaalik on display in Life Onto Land, is critical in piecing together a picture of the transition from fins to limbs. Unearthed in 2004 in the Canadian Arctic, Tiktaalik is famous as one of the best-known examples of the evolution of limbed vertebrates from lobe-finned precursors. In addition to Tiktaalik’s temporary visit to the Academy from the Canadian Museum of Nature, the exhibit presents the environmental context for changes in marine, freshwater swamp and terrestrial ecosystems during this period, including the world’s first forests that were developed in the Devonian. The exhibition includes:

·Plant and animal fossils collected in Devonian rocks worldwide, especially Pennsylvania.

·Illustrations by Spanish artist Aina Bestard, whose works have depicted the evolution of the planet, complete with dinosaurs, amoebas, fossils, and lost landscapes drawings.

·A newly commissioned Tiktaalik model created by Tyler Keillor, who has been preparing fossils, creating skeletal restorations, and sculpting flesh reconstructions of prehistoric life at the University of Chicago and other institutions since 2001.

·Scientific illustrations of W. Scott Rawlins,Philadelphia-based scientific illustrator, naturalist, museum educator, and professor at Arcadia University. Rawlins has been working with paleontologists at the Academy, where he draws or reconstructs specimens of various fossils

Additional highlights of the Life Onto Land exhibit further explain the scientific process of paleontologists who explore the globe to piece together the history of life on Earth.

Life Onto Land was developed for the Academy’s Evolution Year in 2024, continuing the institution’s innovative research and community engagement as it celebrates the history of life on Earth. The exhibition follows the recent opening of Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity, open now through January 21, 2024.

Academy of Natural Sciences

Founded in 1812, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is a leading natural history museum dedicated to informing and building a movement of environmentally engaged communities for a healthy, sustainable and equitable planet. Our mission is to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it. Since its founding, the Academy has sponsored expeditions; conducted seminal systematics research; built an irreplaceable collection of 19 million biological specimens; led critical water and environmental research; transformed global understanding of freshwater ecology; and established a peerless natural history library and archive. The Academy has offered public education for more than two centuries and today welcomes thousands of visitors as a top cultural attraction in Philadelphia.

A special media moment to explore Life OntoLand is being held, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, to explore the new exhibit and interview Ted Daeschler.