Coelacanth

Fish

Coelacanths are lobe-finned fish in the class Actinistia and are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods than to ray-finned fish. Only one living genus, Latimeria, has two described species. Fossils show that coelacanths were present from the Devonian period, and they were once thought extinct until a living species was described from South African specimens collected from 1938 onward. Fossil evidence also indicates greater past diversity in body shapes and ecological niches.

Living genus: Latimeria, with two described species
Class: Actinistia
Earliest stated fossil record: Devonian period, more than 410 million years ago

Sources and credits

Article: Coelacanth (English Wikipedia)
Wikidata: Q59166
Text: Card text is adapted from the English Wikipedia article by an automated summary. Wikipedia content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for its contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Article history and contributors
Illustration: By Bruce A.S. Henderson. CC BY 4.0 · File page on Wikimedia Commons
Bruce A.S. Henderson, Fraser, Michael D.; Henderson, Bruce A.S.; Carstens, Pieter B.; Fraser, Alan D.; Henderson, Benjamin S.; Dukes, Marc D.; Bruton, Michael N. (26 March 2020). "Live coelacanth discovered off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 116 (3/4 March/April 2020). doi:10.17159/sajs.2020/7806 © 2020. The Author(s). Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
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