Scientists from the McGill University in Montreal have come closer to explaining how land animals evolved from fish hundreds of millions of years ago thanks to a new study.

New research, published in the journal Nature this week, explains how one fish species was about to live out of water for over a year.

The fish, known as Polypterus, is native to Africa and has front fins that allow it to crawl between pools.

"Anatomically, their pectoral skeleton changed to become more elongate with stronger attachments across their chest, possibly to increase support during walking, and a reduced contact with the skull to potentially allow greater head/neck motion," says study collaborator Trina Du, according to a McGill University press release.

It only ventures to dry land every once in a while however, and spends most of its time underwater.

Lead researcher Dr. Emily Standen said she didn't think the fish would enjoy life outside their normal environment.

"I wasn't thinking 'Oh my God, we're going to kill all these fish', but I was definitely prepared to have to rescue them. Actually they were very happy," said Standen, according to the release.

Polypterus has lungs and gills, which means it can breathe both in and out of water.

The exciting discovery the researchers made was that the animal's behavior changed as it learned to walk more confidently over the course of its time on dry land.

The researchers believe these changes could mirror the process that took place back when fossil fish moved from the sea on to land and started walking around 385 million years ago.

"Because many of the anatomical changes mirror the fossil record, we can hypothesize that the behavioral changes we see also reflect what may have occurred when fossil fish first walked with their fins on land," Hans Larsson, Canada Research Chair in Macroevolution at McGill, said according to the release.

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