I must confess that to the best of my knowledge, no scientist used those precise words. However, the research does indicate that what was previously thought to be a large change is the result of a few small steps.
It appears that, in evolution, small steps can lead to giant leaps.
In a newly published paper, scientists show that the human hip could have evolved from the equivalent bone structure of an ancestral fish in a few steps.
In a study published in the journal Evolution and Development, Dr Catherine Boisvert of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, MacQuarie University's Professor Jean Joss and Professor Per Ahlberg of Uppsala University examined the hip structures of some of human's closest fish cousins.
They found the differences between us and them are not as great as they appear - most of the key elements necessary for the transformation to human hips were actually already present in our fish ancestors.
Dr Boisvert and her collaborators compared the hip development - bones and musculature - of the Australian lung fish and the Axolotl, commonly known as the Mexican Walking Fish.
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"Our research shows that what initially appeared to be a large change in morphology could be done with relatively few developmental steps."
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