Neoceratodus
African Lungfish
Coelacanth
Sturgeon
OSTEOGLOSSIDAE
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| The so-called living
fossil fishes are actually anything but fossils. They represent species
that evolved extremely successful bodies and physiology long ago, and time
has required very little change in the fishes. They have been called
living fossils because the living species very closely resemble fossils
found representing species many tens of millions of years old.
The "living fossils"
include the lungfishes of Africa, South America, and Australia; the
coelacanth of eastern Africa and Indonesia; sturgeons; and the
bony-tongues fishes that include barramundis and arowanas. |
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