| Coelacanthiformes Temporal range: Early Devonian - Holocene | |
|---|---|
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| West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sarcopterygii |
| Subclass: | Actinistia Cope, 1871 |
| Order: | Coelacanthiformes Huxley, 1861 |
| Families | |
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The coelacanth (meaning hollow spine) is an ancient fish that has lived from the early Devonian to the present. They lived pimarily in the Indian Ocean and in Egypt, South Africa, and Indonesia. There are five types of fish: ray-finned fish, sharks, placoderms, jawless fish, and lobe-finned fish. The lungfish and the coelacanth are the only remaining lobe-finned fish (minus tetrapods). Coelacanthus (a Permian genus) evolved from Eusthenopteron. Eusthenopteron was an important species because it also evolved into Panderichthys, which evolved into Tiktaalik, which evolved into Ichthyostega, and life on land flourished after that. Different species of coelacanth include Youngolepis, Eusthenopteron, Panderichthys, Mawsonia, and today's Latimeria.
In the Media[]
Ark: Survival Evolved Coelacanth
- An Animated Coelacanth was seen swimming past some Ammonoidea from the 4th episode of the 4 part PBS Documentary The Dinosaurs!.
- The Coelacanth was featured in a NOVA Documentary.
- A Coelacanth was seen on the EYEWITNESS Documentary “Prehistoric Life”.
- A pair of Coelacanths were seen in a Tank from Disney’s 41st Animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
- A life sized model of a Coelacanth is briefly seen in the Oxford Museum at the end of the final episode of Walking with Beasts.
- Coelacanth appeared in the National Geographic documentary Dinofish.
- An ancient Pokémon from the Ruby and Sapphire games named Relicanth was inspired in terms of design and name by the Coelacanth.
- A Digimon called Coelamon is also inspired heavily by the ancient Coelacanth & was seen in Digimon Adventure 02 & the 2020 Reboot.
- Many Coelacanths appear in the Ghibli movie Ponyo in the background.
- Coelocanths are a common fish appearing in ARK: Survival Evolved.
Gallery[]
