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Lobe-finned Fish

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(5 total)

Miguashaia bureaui
Miguashaia bureaui
© 2008 Miguasha National Park, Quebec

Eusthenopteron foordi
Eusthenopteron foordi
© 2008 Miguasha National Park, Quebec

Eusthenopteron foordi
Eusthenopteron foordi
© 2008 Miguasha National Park, Quebec

What are Lobe-finned Fish? The lobe-finned fish refer to all the members of the group Sarcopterygii with the exception of the tetrapods. As their name suggests, the fins of lobe-finned fish are supported by a central appendage composed of bones and muscles, potentially useful for supporting the body on land, as in modern lungfish. Most members of this group are extinct, but the few living species have adapted to different extreme conditions. The lungfishes of South America and Africa burrow into the mud when their ponds or pools dry up, and the coelacanths live at depths of 100-400 meters in the Indian Ocean.

First known fossil occurrence: Devonian.

Last known fossil occurrence: Quaternary. This group has living relatives.

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Quaternary
Tertiary
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Precambrian
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