Neil Shubin would like to introduce you to your family tree, the one with roots reaching back more than 3 billion years. In a three-part PBS series debuting Wednesday and based on Shubin's best-selling book, "Your Inner Fish," the paleontologist shares scientific research that connects humans to the early animals that made us what we are today. 

Paleobiologist Neil Shubin digs up the fossils of extinct animals. Now television is bringing those fossils to life.   

Neil H. Shubin's long resume - paleontologist, molecular biologist, dean and professor of anatomy at the University of Chicago - can now be added "television host." Dr. Shubin, 53, who helped discover the 375-million-year-old fish called Tiktaalik, hailed as a missing link between sea and land animals, will preside over "Your Inner Fish," a three-part series on evolution (based on his book of the same title) that makes its debut Wednesday on PBS. 

When the paleobiologist Neil Shubin looks at his fellow humans, he sees ghosts of animals past. The wy we grip with our hands? We can thank our primate forefathers. Our ability to hear so many sounds? Distant ancestors the size of a shrew.  

In his book of the same name, author and paleontologist Neil Shubin posits that the human body as we know it today is the result of 3.5 million years of evolution, and that many of our characteristics can be traced to some rather surprising origins. Now, in a three-part series for PBS, Shubin brings his theories to life. 

Two weeks from today, on April 9th, PBS will air the first of a three-part series adapted from Neil Shubin’s popular book, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year-History of the Human Body. If you’ve ever wondered why we’re built the way we are – with five fingers on each hand, testes that hang outside our bodies, and backs and knees that leave us vulnerable to slipped discs and torn ligaments – this series will take you on a journey of discovery you won’t soon forget.

Icons of evolution don't come much uglier than Tiktaalik, the land-walking ancient fish from 375 million years ago.

But Tiktaalik was acclaimed as a beautiful scientific discovery when it was announced in 2006 by paleontologist Neil Shubin and his team. The project was partially supported by the National Geographic Society.

Michael Rosenfeld, head of television and film for science specialist prodco Tangled Bank Studios, revealed more about the company’s aims during his keynote session at MIPDoc yesterday (April 6).

Tangled Bank Studios launched out of the philanthropical research organization The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) last November with the aim to produce science content for TV, digital, theatrical, and giant screen. Rosenfeld says the prodco’s content will fill what he regards as a gap in science programming in the U.S. 

The best science television is far from dry and worthy. Science documentary maker Michael Rosenfeld, now head of television and film at Tangled Bank Studios, gave some insights into his company’s work in a MIPDoc keynote today, while also explaining how the studio is keen to support other producers with similar ambitions.