DOCSLIB.ORG

Coelacanth, Latimeria Chalumnae at Marinebio.Org

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Coelacanth, Latimeria Chalumnae at Marinebio.Org Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae at MarineBio.org species search » FREE Diving Almanac & Yearbook » Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 Sign up for our newsletter, ocean updates & action alerts. Name Membership Benefits Email Address ~ Sharing the wonders of the ocean to inspire education, research and a sea ethic ~ 263 Most Common Subscribe Latimeria chalumnae & Endangered Coelacanth Marine Species » Unsubscribe [~3,000 in review] Kingdom: Animalia Privacy Policy Phylum: Chordata Latest Newsletter » Class: Sarcopterygii Archives Order: Coelacanthiformes Family: Coelacanthidae Genus: Latimeria species: Latimeria chalumnae Join MarineBio MarineBio Blog Full Taxonomy (ITIS) Make a Donation Sponsor Coelacanth Photo Gallery MarineBio Description & Behavior Frontline Latimeria chalumnae (Smith, 1939) is the Comoran coelacanth and Latimeria menadoensis Marine (Pouyaud, Wirjoatmodjo, Rachmatika, Tjakrawidjaja, Hadiaty and Hadie, 1999) is the Conservation Indonesian species. The living coelacanths ("see-la-kanths"), Latimeria chalumnae and Support Program Latimeria menadoensis are possibly the sole remaining representatives of a once Volunteer widespread family of Sarcopterygian (fleshy or lobed-finned) coelacanth fishes (more than http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54 (1 of 7)20-11-2007 15:50:28 Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae at MarineBio.org Plankton Forums 120 species are known from the fossil record). The coelacanths were thought to have gone ° Hayden’s my extinct during the extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago. Make a hero! Difference Then one was netted by a fishing trawler off South Africa in 1938 - a catch that shook the ° Toy MarineBio Gear scientific world and was widely regarded as the zoological find of the 20th century. exploitation Link to Us Today's coelacanths can reach almost 2 m in length and weigh up to 68 kg, (a giant Suggest a Site ° Search Mozambique female was 1.8 m long and 95 kg) but they are usually somewhat smaller, underway for Tell a Friend particularly the males, which average under 1.65 m. Coloration is dark blue with distinctive host of deep sea white flecks that can even be used by researchers to designate individuals. (Indonesian documentary coelacanths, Latimeria menadoensis, tends to be more brown than blue). Latimeria has a series Home single, large, elongated, pseudo-lung filled with fat, a vertually linear heart, shark-like A Sea Ethic intestines with a spiral valve, and an axial skeleton composed only of a hollow tube of ° Woods Hole to spearhead Marine cartilage called a notocord. They possess hinges in their skulls that allow then to consume Ocean Conservation large prey. Latimeria also has a special electroreceptive device called a rosteral organ in Observatories Biology the front of the skull. They are also noted as particularly mucilaginous; not only do the scales exude mucus, but their bodies continually ooze a large quantity of oil. Initiative - Global Warming cutting edge Sustainable science Fisheries (Overfishing) ° Lifeguard Marius Biodiversity Mironescu Threatened & rescues shark Endangered from people Species Habitat ° REEF - the Conservation book. The next Alien Species best thing to being there! Ocean Dumping Scientists believe individual coelacanths may live as long as 60 years. The coelacanth Grounds appears to be a cousin of Eusthenopteron, the fish credited with growing legs and coming ° The 11th Hour Ocean Resources ashore - 360 million years ago - as the ancestor of all tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles and ° Guadalupe Sustainable mammals) including ourselves. Island Tourism Debate still rages though as to whether the coelacanths, presumed to be close relatives of Conservation the Rhipidistia fishes from which tetrapod amphibians supposedly arose, are our closest Fund scores two tetrapod ancestors, or if lung fishes, another very ancient line, are more closely related to for the sharks http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54 (2 of 7)20-11-2007 15:50:28 Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae at MarineBio.org Marine tetrapods than the Rhipidistia. Coelacanths have a trilobated tail with and extra trunk and ° To Follow the Conservation fin protruding from the middle. While the living coelacanths retain many ancient features Water Organizations they have also, contrary to their public image, done some evolving along the way like The Future producing live young. » Anatomy of the Coelacanth ° FREE Diving Almanac & Essays on World Range & Habitat Wildlife Comoro Islands and Maputo, Mozambique; East Yearbook Conservation London and Sodwana, South Africa; North Sulwesi Marine (Bunaken National Park, Manado), Indonesia - possibly MarineBio Blog » Conservation worldwide at deep scattered locations. Coelacanths Forum were found to congregate in submarine caves on The Plankton steep island drop offs during the day at depths Forums greater than 100 m. Their white scale flecks, set ° Dumping Home against a cobalt blue body color offer excellent North Sea fish camouflage against the cave surfaces covered with Marine Science 'immoral' white sponges and oyster shells. Fish which had been Marine Life tagged with sonic devices were found to leave the ° Fishermen Tools & Methods caves at the same time late each afternoon to forage Commit to Relevant along the coastal incline during the night. Responsible Journals Fishing Practices » GBIF occurrence data in Google Earth [Requirements | Tips] Marine Life » Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) [World Map] | OBIS-SEAMAP | [about] Videos, Photo ° Leggy fish Galleries+ Feeding Behavior (Ecology) ° Save Bimini They are oportunistic feeders, hunting cuttlefishes, squids, snipe eels, small sharks, and Campaign other fishes found in their deep reef and volcanic slope habitats. Location of prey fish is Home possibly aided by their rostral organ (in the snout) acting as an electric field receptor. ° Whale Found U.S. Colleges Latimeria is also known to stand on its head, swims backwards and belly up to locate its Deep In Brazil prey presumably utilizing its rosteral gland. Scientists suspect that one reason Latimeria has Rainforest International been so successful (and also long-lived) is that they can slow down their metabolisms at any Institutes & Labs ° Trip to Bimini time, sinking into the less-inhabited depths and minimizing their nutritional requirements in Job Resources a sort of hibernation mode. ° Global warming: Life History Oceans could They are ovoviparous, giving birth to as many as 26 live pups which develop from eggs in the Aquariums absorb far more oviduct, feeding off a large yolk sac until birth. Creature Quiz CO2, says study http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54 (3 of 7)20-11-2007 15:50:28 Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae at MarineBio.org MarineBio Kids Comments The Coelacanth - a Morphological Mixed Bag ° New species Fun Ocean Facts of Dwarf Ocean Mysteries Tanzania coast excites seekers of "living fossil" - Confirmed populations have been found off Manatee Scuba Diving the island state of Comoros and South Africa but experts think the search of Africa's long discovered Submarines/ Indian Ocean coast has hardly begun. "Since August 2003, 17 coelacanths have been caught ° Rare Whales Tech by fishermen off Tanzania," said Tony Ribbink, the head of the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP). iIn Danger Off North Carolina Further Research ^ back to top ° Mom Irate MarineBio Blog » Coelacanth IUCN RedList Status (threatened, endangered...) [about] Over Toy Shark Marine Life » Coelacanth CITES Listing (international trade protection status) [about] Hunting Ship; News » Scirus for Latimeria chalumnae [about] 'There Is No Marine Life » GBIF Biodiversity Data for Latimeria chalumnae [about] Excuse' » Google Scholar for Latimeria chalumnae [about] Directory » Books & DVDs+ SIRIS (Bibliographies) for Latimeria chalumnae [about] ° Abiotic » Search BioOne Journals for Latimeria chalumnae [about] component of » National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) [about] marine » Tree of Life Web Project: Family Coelacanthidae [about] ecosystems? About Us » What's New? | ° Is there is a Press References [Edit Species] case for killing Partners & Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS): Latimeria chalumnae Humpbacks Sponsors FIGIS - FAO/SIDP Species Identification Sheet: Latimeria chalumnae whales? MarineBio FishBase Species Summary: Latimeria chalumnae | LarvalBase Species Summary ° Australian Projects Latimeria chalumnae: Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of scientists Zoology Expeditions decode whale NOVA | Ancient Creature of the Deep | Moment of Discovery | PBS Contributors sounds DINOFISH.com - COELACANTH: THE FISH OUT OF TIME Contact Us Visit DINOFISH for the latest news and lots of details.... ° Mediterranean Guestbook Coelacanth Articles and Bibliography list Sharks, Rays FAQs See Coelacanth Video clips here Facing Oblivion, UC Berkeley Researchers Announce Discovery of Sulawesi Coelacanths Study Says New sighting of 'living fossil' intrigues scientists (+ video) - CNN September 23, ° 1998 US wants The Most Complete Coelacanth Bibliography freeze on tuna http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54 (4 of 7)20-11-2007 15:50:28 Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae at MarineBio.org fishing Citation Latimeria chalumnae, Coelacanth - MarineBio.org. Retrieved Tuesday, November 20, The Plankton MarineBio Newsletter: 2007, from http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54. Forums » 11,973 subscribers Email or Upload species related docs/photos/video... / Feedback? / © MarineBio.org October 2007: What's New? 584,567
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ESS 345 Ichthyology
    ESS 345 Ichthyology Evolutionary history of fishes 12 Feb 2019 (Who’s birthday?) Quote of the Day: We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities... still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin._______, (1809-1882) Evolution/radiation of fishes over time Era Cenozoic Fig 13.1 Fishes are the most primitive vertebrate and last common ancestor to all vertebrates They start the branch from all other living things with vertebrae and a cranium Chordata Notochord Dorsal hollow nerve cord Pharyngeal gill slits Postanal tail Urochordata Cephalochordata Craniates (mostly Vertebrata) Phylum Chordata sister is… Echinodermata Synapomorphy – They are deuterostomes Fish Evolutionary Tree – evolutionary innovations in vertebrate history Sarcopterygii Chondrichthyes Actinopterygii (fish) For extant fishes Osteichthyes Gnathostomata Handout Vertebrata Craniata Figure only from Berkeley.edu Hypothesis of fish (vert) origins Background 570 MYA – first large radiation of multicellular life – Fossils of the Burgess Shale – Called the Cambrian explosion Garstang Hypothesis 1928 Neoteny of sessile invertebrates Mistake that was “good” Mudpuppy First Vertebrates Vertebrates appear shortly after Cambrian explosion, 530 MYA – Conodonts Notochord replaced by segmented or partially segmented vertebrate and brain is enclosed in cranium Phylogenetic tree Echinoderms, et al. Other “inverts” Vertebrate phyla X Protostomes Deuterostomes Nephrozoa – bilateral animals First fishes were jawless appearing
    [Show full text]
  • Biofluorescence in Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae): Fundamental Description and Relevance for Elasmobranch Visual Ecology
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research Baruch College 2016 Biofluorescence in Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae): Fundamental Description and Relevance for Elasmobranch Visual Ecology David F. Gruber CUNY Bernard M Baruch College Ellis R. Loew Cornell University Dimitri D. Deheyn University of California - San Diego Derya Akkaynak University of Haifa Jean P. Gaffney CUNY Bernard M Baruch College See next page for additional authors How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bb_pubs/993 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Authors David F. Gruber, Ellis R. Loew, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Derya Akkaynak, Jean P. Gaffney, W. Leo Smith, Matthew P. Davis, Jennifer H. Stern, Vincent A. Pieribone, and John S. Sparks This article is available at CUNY Academic Works: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bb_pubs/993 www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Biofluorescence in Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae): Fundamental Description and Relevance for Received: 22 January 2016 Accepted: 05 April 2016 Elasmobranch Visual Ecology Published: 25 April 2016 David F. Gruber1,2,3, Ellis R. Loew4, Dimitri D. Deheyn5, Derya Akkaynak6,7, Jean P. Gaffney1, W. Leo Smith8, Matthew P. Davis9, Jennifer H. Stern8, Vincent A. Pieribone10 & John S. Sparks3,11 Biofluorescence has recently been found to be widespread in marine fishes, including sharks. Catsharks, such as the Swell Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) from the eastern Pacific and the Chain Catshark (Scyliorhinus retifer) from the western Atlantic, are known to exhibit bright green fluorescence.
    [Show full text]
  • Coelacanth Discoveries in Madagascar, with AUTHORS: Andrew Cooke1 Recommendations on Research and Conservation Michael N
    Coelacanth discoveries in Madagascar, with AUTHORS: Andrew Cooke1 recommendations on research and conservation Michael N. Bruton2 Minosoa Ravololoharinjara3 The presence of populations of the Western Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) in AFFILIATIONS: 1Resolve sarl, Ivandry Business Madagascar is not surprising considering the vast range of habitats which the ancient island offers. Center, Antananarivo, Madagascar The discovery of a substantial population of coelacanths through handline fishing on the steep volcanic 2Honorary Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic slopes of Comoros archipelago initially provided an important source of museum specimens and was Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa the main focus of coelacanth research for almost 40 years. The advent of deep-set gillnets, or jarifa, for 3Resolve sarl, Ivandry Business catching sharks, driven by the demand for shark fins and oil from China in the mid- to late 1980s, resulted Center, Antananarivo, Madagascar in an explosion of coelacanth captures in Madagascar and other countries in the Western Indian Ocean. CORRESPONDENCE TO: We review coelacanth catches in Madagascar and present evidence for the existence of one or more Andrew Cooke populations of L. chalumnae distributed along about 1000 km of the southern and western coasts of the island. We also hypothesise that coelacanths are likely to occur around the whole continental margin EMAIL: [email protected] of Madagascar, making it the epicentre of coelacanth distribution in the Western Indian Ocean and the likely progenitor of the younger Comoros coelacanth population. Finally, we discuss the importance and DATES: vulnerability of the population of coelacanths inhabiting the submarine slopes of the Onilahy canyon in Received: 23 June 2020 Revised: 02 Oct.
    [Show full text]
  • APPENDIX 1 Classified List of Fishes Mentioned in the Text, with Scientific and Common Names
    APPENDIX 1 Classified list of fishes mentioned in the text, with scientific and common names. ___________________________________________________________ Scientific names and classification are from Nelson (1994). Families are listed in the same order as in Nelson (1994), with species names following in alphabetical order. The common names of British fishes mostly follow Wheeler (1978). Common names of foreign fishes are taken from Froese & Pauly (2002). Species in square brackets are referred to in the text but are not found in British waters. Fishes restricted to fresh water are shown in bold type. Fishes ranging from fresh water through brackish water to the sea are underlined; this category includes diadromous fishes that regularly migrate between marine and freshwater environments, spawning either in the sea (catadromous fishes) or in fresh water (anadromous fishes). Not indicated are marine or freshwater fishes that occasionally venture into brackish water. Superclass Agnatha (jawless fishes) Class Myxini (hagfishes)1 Order Myxiniformes Family Myxinidae Myxine glutinosa, hagfish Class Cephalaspidomorphi (lampreys)1 Order Petromyzontiformes Family Petromyzontidae [Ichthyomyzon bdellium, Ohio lamprey] Lampetra fluviatilis, lampern, river lamprey Lampetra planeri, brook lamprey [Lampetra tridentata, Pacific lamprey] Lethenteron camtschaticum, Arctic lamprey] [Lethenteron zanandreai, Po brook lamprey] Petromyzon marinus, lamprey Superclass Gnathostomata (fishes with jaws) Grade Chondrichthiomorphi Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous
    [Show full text]
  • Exceptional Vertebrate Biotas from the Triassic of China, and the Expansion of Marine Ecosystems After the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction
    Earth-Science Reviews 125 (2013) 199–243 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth-Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev Exceptional vertebrate biotas from the Triassic of China, and the expansion of marine ecosystems after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction Michael J. Benton a,⁎, Qiyue Zhang b, Shixue Hu b, Zhong-Qiang Chen c, Wen Wen b, Jun Liu b, Jinyuan Huang b, Changyong Zhou b, Tao Xie b, Jinnan Tong c, Brian Choo d a School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK b Chengdu Center of China Geological Survey, Chengdu 610081, China c State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China d Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China article info abstract Article history: The Triassic was a time of turmoil, as life recovered from the most devastating of all mass extinctions, the Received 11 February 2013 Permo-Triassic event 252 million years ago. The Triassic marine rock succession of southwest China provides Accepted 31 May 2013 unique documentation of the recovery of marine life through a series of well dated, exceptionally preserved Available online 20 June 2013 fossil assemblages in the Daye, Guanling, Zhuganpo, and Xiaowa formations. New work shows the richness of the faunas of fishes and reptiles, and that recovery of vertebrate faunas was delayed by harsh environmental Keywords: conditions and then occurred rapidly in the Anisian. The key faunas of fishes and reptiles come from a limited Triassic Recovery area in eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou provinces, and these may be dated relative to shared strati- Reptile graphic units, and their palaeoenvironments reconstructed.
    [Show full text]
  • Snakes, Centipedes, Snakepedes, and Centiserpents: Conflation of Liminal Species in Maya Iconography and Ethnozoology
    f No. 9, 2004 WAYEB NOTES ISSN 1379-8286 SNAKES, CENTIPEDES, SNAKEPEDES, AND CENTISERPENTS: CONFLATION OF LIMINAL SPECIES IN MAYA ICONOGRAPHY AND ETHNOZOOLOGY. (Workshop Closing Paper Presented at the XXIVth Linda Schele Forum on Maya Hieroglyphic Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, March 2000) Harri Kettunen1 and Bon V. Davis II2 1 University of Helsinki 2 University of Texas at Austin Abstract Since the identification of centipedes in the Maya hieroglyphic corpus and iconography in 1994 by Nikolai Grube and Werner Nahm (Grube & Nahm 1994: 702), epigraphers and iconographers alike have debated whether the serpentine creatures in Maya iconography depict imaginative snakes or centipedes. In this paper we argue that most serpentine creatures with unrealistically depicted heads are neither snakes nor centipedes, but a conflation of both, and even have characteristics of other animals, such as sharks and crocodiles. Thus these creatures should more aptly be designated as zoomorphs, monsters, centiserpents, or dragons. In the present article the topic will be examined using iconographic, epigraphic, zoological, and ethozoological data. Acknowledgements We would like to express our thanks to Justin Kerr for directing the Workshop on Maya ceramics at the XXIVth Maya Meeting in Austin. We would also like to thank Justin for making available hundreds of roll-out photographs of Maya ceramics and for offering us his insights on Maya iconography. Furthermore, we would like to thank Nancy Elder, the head librarian of the Biological Sciences Library at the University of Texas at Austin for providing us numerous articles relating to our topic and for directing us to relevant sources during our research on centipedes.
    [Show full text]
  • The African Coelacanth Genome Provides Insights Into Tetrapod Evolution
    OPEN ARTICLE doi:10.1038/nature12027 The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution Chris T. Amemiya1,2*, Jessica Alfo¨ldi3*, Alison P. Lee4, Shaohua Fan5, Herve´ Philippe6, Iain MacCallum3, Ingo Braasch7, Tereza Manousaki5,8, Igor Schneider9, Nicolas Rohner10, Chris Organ11, Domitille Chalopin12, Jeramiah J. Smith13, Mark Robinson1, Rosemary A. Dorrington14, Marco Gerdol15, Bronwen Aken16, Maria Assunta Biscotti17, Marco Barucca17, Denis Baurain18, Aaron M. Berlin3, Gregory L. Blatch14,19, Francesco Buonocore20, Thorsten Burmester21, Michael S. Campbell22, Adriana Canapa17, John P. Cannon23, Alan Christoffels24, Gianluca De Moro15, Adrienne L. Edkins14, Lin Fan3, Anna Maria Fausto20, Nathalie Feiner5,25, Mariko Forconi17, Junaid Gamieldien24, Sante Gnerre3, Andreas Gnirke3, Jared V. Goldstone26, Wilfried Haerty27, Mark E. Hahn26, Uljana Hesse24, Steve Hoffmann28, Jeremy Johnson3, Sibel I. Karchner26, Shigehiro Kuraku5{, Marcia Lara3, Joshua Z. Levin3, Gary W. Litman23, Evan Mauceli3{, Tsutomu Miyake29, M. Gail Mueller30, David R. Nelson31, Anne Nitsche32, Ettore Olmo17, Tatsuya Ota33, Alberto Pallavicini15, Sumir Panji24{, Barbara Picone24, Chris P. Ponting27, Sonja J. Prohaska34, Dariusz Przybylski3, Nil Ratan Saha1, Vydianathan Ravi4, Filipe J. Ribeiro3{, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler35, Giuseppe Scapigliati20, Stephen M. J. Searle16, Ted Sharpe3, Oleg Simakov5,36, Peter F. Stadler32, John J. Stegeman26, Kenta Sumiyama37, Diana Tabbaa3, Hakim Tafer32, Jason Turner-Maier3, Peter van Heusden24, Simon White16, Louise Williams3, Mark Yandell22, Henner Brinkmann6, Jean-Nicolas Volff12, Clifford J. Tabin10, Neil Shubin38, Manfred Schartl39, David B. Jaffe3, John H. Postlethwait7, Byrappa Venkatesh4, Federica Di Palma3, Eric S. Lander3, Axel Meyer5,8,25 & Kerstin Lindblad-Toh3,40 The discovery of a living coelacanth specimen in 1938 was remarkable, as this lineage of lobe-finned fish was thought to have become extinct 70 million years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes
    Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes Written and Designed by Prosanta Chakrabarty, Ph.D., Sophie Warny, Ph.D., and Valerie Derouen LSU Museum of Natural Science To those young people still discovering their love of nature... Note to parents, teachers, instructors, activity coordinators and to all the fishermen in us: This book is a companion piece to Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes, an exhibit at Louisiana State Universi- ty’s Museum of Natural Science (MNS). Located in Foster Hall on the main campus of LSU, this exhibit created in 2012 contains many of the elements discussed in this book. The MNS exhibit hall is open weekdays, from 8 am to 4 pm, when the LSU campus is open. The MNS visits are free of charge, but call our main office at 225-578-2855 to schedule a visit if your group includes 10 or more students. Of course the book can also be enjoyed on its own and we hope that you will enjoy it on your own or with your children or students. The book and exhibit was funded by the Louisiana Board Of Regents, Traditional Enhancement Grant - Education: Mak- ing a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes: A Three-tiered Education Program and Museum Exhibit. Funding was obtained by LSUMNS Curators’ Sophie Warny and Prosanta Chakrabarty who designed the exhibit with Southwest Museum Services who built it in 2012. The oarfish in the exhibit was created by Carolyn Thome of the Smithsonian, and images exhibited here are from Curator Chakrabarty unless noted elsewhere (see Appendix II).
    [Show full text]
  • Giant Fossil Coelacanths from the Late Cretaceous of the Eastern
    ^rfij^i^v^^™, - » v ' - - 4 j/ N ^P"" ,- V ^™ V- -*^ >•;:-* ' ^ * -r;' David R. Schwimmer, Geologist, Columbus State University Introduction In Autumn, 1987, a sizeable mass of fossil bone was discovered by amateur collectors in the bed of a small creek in eastern Alabama. The bone-bearing rock, some 300 kg in weight, was collected by a party led by G. Dent Williams and transferred to the paleontology laboratory at Columbus State University. Williams prepared most of the material using air percussion tools, and I further cleared some bones with acetic acid. A mandible (lower jaw bone) of 502 mm length was the first bone prepared from the material. It strangely lacked evidence of both teeth and tooth sockets, and it was covered medially with coarse denticulation resembling #40 grit sandpaper. The jawbone conformed with no recognizable North American Late Cretaceous fish or four-legged animal, and, given the large size of the mandible, my initial search for an identification ranged from ankylosaurid dinosaurs, to mosasaurs, to the larger contemporary fish, such as Xiphactinus. Nothing known in the Late Cretaceous of North America matched the mandible nor any other bone which was subsequently prepared from this matrix. J.D. Stewart of the L.A. County Museum was prior fossil record of a North American coelacanth is concurrently studying fossils of small marine Diplurus newarki, from freshwater deposits of earliest coelacanths from the Late Cretaceous of western Kansas, Jurassic age (ca. 205 Myr.: Schaeffer, 1941, 1952). USA (which were also a new discovery at the time: see Forey (1981) and Maisey (1991) recognized two sub- Stewart et al., 1991).
    [Show full text]
  • Class SARCOPTERYGII Order COELACANTHIFORMES
    click for previous page Coelacanthiformes: Latimeriidae 3969 Class SARCOPTERYGII Order COELACANTHIFORMES LATIMERIIDAE (= Coelacanthidae) Coelacanths by S.L. Jewett A single species occurring in the area. Latimeria menadoensis Pouyaud, Wirjoatmodjo, Rachmatika, Tjakrawidjaja, Hadiaty, and Hadie, 1999 Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / Nearly identical in appearance to Latimeria chalumnae Smith, 1939 from the western Indian Ocean. FAO names: En - Sulawesi coelacanth. Diagnostic characters: A large robust fish. Caudal-peduncle depth nearly equal to body depth. Head robust, with large eye, terminal mouth, and large soft gill flap extending posteriorly from opercular bone. Dorsal surface of snout with pits and reticulations comprising part of sensory system. Three large, widely spaced pores on each side of snout, 1 near tip of snout and 2 just anterior to eye, connecting internally to rostral organ. Anterior nostrils form small papillae located at dorsolateral margin of mouth, at anterior end of pseudomaxillary fold (thick, muscularized skin which replaces the maxilla in coelacanths). Ventral side of head with prominent paired gular plates, longitudinally oriented along midline; skull dorsally with pronounced paired bony plates, just above and behind eyes, the posterior margins of which mark exterior manifestation of intracranial joint (or hinge) that divides braincase into anterior and posterior portions (found only in coelacanths). First dorsal fin typical, with 8 stout bony rays. Second dorsal (28 rays), anal (30), paired pectoral (each 30 to 33), and paired pelvic (each 33) fins lobed, i.e. each with a fleshy base, internally supported by an endoskeleton with which terminal fin rays articulate. Caudal fin atypical, consisting of 3 parts: upper and lower portions with numerous rays more or less symmetrically arranged along dorsal and ventral midlines, and a separate smaller terminal portion (sometimes called epicaudal fin) with symmetrically arranged rays.
    [Show full text]
  • Giant Mesozoic Coelacanths (Osteichthyes, Actinistia) Reveal High Body Size Disparity Decoupled from Taxic Diversity
    Giant Mesozoic Coelacanths (Osteichthyes, Actinistia) Reveal High Body Size Disparity Decoupled From Taxic Diversity Lionel Cavin ( [email protected] ) Natural History Museum of Geneva André Piuz Natural History Museum of Geneva Christophe Ferrante Natural History Museum of Geneva Guillaume Guinot Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier Research Article Keywords: morphological evolution, taxic diversication, Genomic and physiological characteristics Posted Date: March 2nd, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-245480/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License 1 2 Giant Mesozoic coelacanths (Osteichthyes, Actinistia) reveal high 3 body size disparity decoupled from taxic diversity 4 5 Lionel Cavin1*, André Piuz1, Christophe Ferrante1,2 & Guillaume Guinot3 6 7 8 1 Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, 9 Switzerland 10 2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraîchais 13, 1205 Genève, 11 Switzerland 12 3 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, 13 EPHE), Montpellier, France 14 15 * Corresponding author 16 Email: [email protected] 17 1 18 Abstract 19 20 The positive correlation between speciation rates and morphological evolution expressed by 21 body size is a macroevolutionary trait of vertebrates. Although taxic diversification and 22 morphological evolution are slow in coelacanths, their fossil record indicates that large and 23 small species coexisted, which calls into question the link between morphological and body 24 size disparities. Here, we describe and reassess fossils of giant coelacanths. Two genera 25 reached up to 5 meters long, placing them among the ten largest bony fish that ever lived.
    [Show full text]
  • New Coelacanth Material from the Middle Triassic of Eastern Switzerland, and Comments on the Taxic Diversity of Actinistans
    Swiss J Geosci (2013) 106:161–177 DOI 10.1007/s00015-013-0143-7 New coelacanth material from the Middle Triassic of eastern Switzerland, and comments on the taxic diversity of actinistans Lionel Cavin • Heinz Furrer • Christian Obrist Received: 1 February 2013 / Accepted: 9 August 2013 / Published online: 16 November 2013 Ó Swiss Geological Society 2013 Abstract New coelacanth material from the Middle Tri- preserved on the holotype and allows the addition of new assic Prosanto Formation of the Ducan and Landwasser characters to a previously published data matrix of acti- area near Davos in eastern Switzerland, Canton Graubu¨n- nistians. A phylogenetic analysis is performed, which den, is described. A sub-complete individual is visible in supports that Ticinepomis is nested among the Latimeri- ventral view, and shows details of its branchial apparatus. idae. The diversity of post-Palaeozoic coelacanths is In particular, it possesses relatively large teeth on the assessed. The taxic diversity of observed occurrences ceratobranchials, and possible ossified hypobranchials. shows a peak in the Early Triassic and a peak in the Late Few diagnostic characters are observable, and most of them Jurassic, as detected in previous studies. When ghost lin- are visible on the mandibles preserved in lateral view. This eages are included in the computation, the Late Jurassic specimen shares characters with Ticinepomis peyeri,a peak is smoothened. By comparing the taxic diversity smaller form from the Middle Triassic of Monte San curves with the curve of average ghost lineage duration, we Giorgio, whose holotype is re-described in part here. A conclude that the Early Triassic peak of diversity was second specimen, a fragmentary caudal skeleton shows the probably caused by a biological radiation, whereas the Late typical supplementary lobe of coelacanths, and meristic Jurassic peak of observed diversity is probably the result of characters indicating probable close affinities with T.
    [Show full text]