Neil Shubin

Neil Shubin

  • Title: Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
  • Education: PhD, AM, both from Harvard University; AB, Columbia University
  • Joined UChicago faculty: 2000
  • nshubin@uchicago.edu
  • @NeilShubin

Neil Shubin

Neil Shubin has conducted landmark research on the evolutionary origin of anatomical features of animals. He has conducted fieldwork in much of North America, including Greenland, as well as China, Africa and Antarctica. One of his most significant discoveries, a 375-million-year-old fossil called Tiktaalik roseae, is an important transitional form between fish and land animals.

Shubin has written two popular science books: the best-selling Your Inner Fish (2008), which was made into an Emmy Award-winning PBS series; and The Universe Within: The Deep History of the Human Body (2013).

He serves as associate dean for academic strategy in the Biological Sciences Division and a senior adviser to President Robert J. Zimmer. Shubin is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Media Contact

Elisa Xu

Media Relations Analyst

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Expertise

Evolutionary biology, Organismal biology and anatomy, Paleontology

Shubin Stories

New Evidence Suggests That Human Limbs Evolved From Shark Gills

Prof. Neil Shubin discusses ‘compelling’ research showing evolutionary link between gills and limbs


Fossilized Jaw Bone Reveals Early Evolution of Mammals

Video: Prof. Neil Shubin discusses his research on one of the earliest known mammals


Scientific Chicago with Neil Shubin

Video: Prof. Neil Shubin highlights scientific research done by Chicago-area institutions


Pluto Is Just a Baby Step for Humankind

Article cites Prof. Neil Shubin, who says New Horizon's Pluto mission 'lets us see beyond ourselves in an entirely new way'


Scientific Chicago with Neil Shubin

Video: Prof. Neil Shubin discusses UChicago research, which finds adults can be trained to obtain ‘perfect pitch’


Do Fish Have Fingers?

Audio: Andrew Gerke discusses research with Prof. Neil Shubin, which finds fish fins genetically linked to hands of modern animals


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