Tiktaalik is a transitional fossil; it is to tetrapods what Archaeopteryx is to birds, troodonts and dromaeosaurids. 1  While it may be that neither is ancestor to any living animal, they serve as evidence that intermediates between very different types of vertebrates did once exist.
Minnesota became a part of the United States as the Minnesota Territory in 1849, and became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858.
Utah officially became a U.S. state on Jan. 4, 1896. Florida became a state on March 3, 1845. Alaska was the 49th state to join the union on Jan. 3, 1959. Missouri became a state on Aug. 10, 1821. West Virginia was the 35th state admitted, doing so on June 20, 1863. Oregon became a state on Valentine's Day in 1859.