The Evolutionary Significance of Blinking in Land Animals and Humans.
Researchers have studied mudskippers to understand how the first animals to leave the oceans and wander onto shore would have had to figure out how to blink. Mudskippers are one of the few fish that can survive outside of water for extended periods of time thanks to their amphibian-like adaptations. By studying mudskippers, the researchers say that there’s an opportunity to understand how tetrapods may have evolved to blink millions of years ago in a separate yet similar way. The mudskipper appears to have rearranged its muscles in order to pop its eyes in and out, hinting that ancient tetrapods may have evolved in a similar way.
