Animals / coelacanth-living-fossil
Facts about Coelacanth Living Fossil
- 05
Two distinct populations of coelacanth are recognized as separate species: Latimeria chalumnae in the Indian Ocean and Latimeria menadoensis discovered near Indonesia in 1997.
- 04
Coelacanths give birth to live young, making them ovoviviparous rather than egg-laying like most fish.
- 03
Living coelacanths were found to inhabit deep ocean waters, typically at depths between 150 and 700 meters, in cold, dark submarine caves.
- 02
A coelacanth's paired lobe fins move in an alternating pattern resembling tetrapod limb movement, providing clues about the evolution of land-walking vertebrates.
- 01
The coelacanth was believed extinct for around 65 million years until a living specimen was discovered off South Africa in 1938.