Vertebrate land invasion

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The vertebrate land invasion refers to the transition of vertebrate animals from being aquatic/semiaquatic to predominantly terrestrial during the Late Devonian period. This transition allowed some vertebrates to escape competitive pressure from other aquatic animals and explore niches on land,^[1] which eventually established the vertebrates as the dominant terrestrial phylum. Fossils from this period have allowed scientists to identify some of the species that existed during this transition, such as Tiktaalik^[2] and Acanthostega.^[3] Many of these species were also the first to develop adaptations suited to terrestrial over aquatic life, such as neck mobility, more robust lungs and hindlimb locomotion.

The late Devonian vertebrate transition was preceded by terrestrial invasion by fungi, land plants and invertebrates such as arthropods. These land colonization allowed for the development of appropriate terrestrial ecosystems that would be available to accommodate vertebrate habitation. While the late Devonian event was the first land invasion by vertebrate organisms, newer aquatic species have continued to develop adaptations suited to terrestrial life (and vice versa) from the late Devonian to the Holocene.^[4]