Soon to be renamed Cheneyfish
An Indonesian angler caught a fish once thought to have disappeared along with the dinosaurs and held it in a quarantined pool until it died 17 hours later, a biologist said Sunday.
The coelacanth fish was thought to have become extinct 65 million years ago until one was found in 1938 off Africa’s coast. The discovery of the so-called “living fossil” ignited worldwide interest.
Lumingas classified the fish as Coelacanth Latemeria, a powerful predator with highly mobile, limb-like fins. It is usually about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and weighs around 45 kilograms (100 pounds). Unlike most other fish, it gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs.
I considered Photoshopping the image. You really don’t have to – once you read the description of the anachronistic critter.
Tee hee.
Cool. I love coelacanths!!
They’re more closely related to us than they are to ray-finned fish. The lobe-finned fish, such as this, look tetrapod-like underwater because those fins are what became our limbs over the long years of evolution.
OK, now the creationists can attack me.
Does it also gives birth to fugly lesbians?
For those who enjoy bad movies (such as most of MST3K’s, Plan 9, etc.) check out the appearance of the Coelacanth in Monster On Campus.
Also shows a modern dragonfly ‘mutating’ into a giant dragonfly from prehistoric times.
J/P=?
And before the coelacanth was thought to be some sort of missing link in the evolutionary chain with all sorts of explanations of how it’s physiology worked. Then they found one and all those explanations had to be thrown out.
What’s with this continuous comparison of politicians with dinosaurs?
Maybe you’re not aware that dinosaurs were among the most successful animals ever to live on the Earth? Their reign lasted over 100 million years. They are probably more favoured now than ever judging by popular culture over the last few decades. Now compare that with liberals.
And while I’m at it… The coelacanth we see today is not the same as that extinct species. For one thing, the scale structure is completely different. But don’t ask me to cite any references as this tidbit comes from my own nearly extinct zoological knowledge of such things.
RBG
#6 – Now compare that with liberals.
So you’re saying, uh, what? Politicians who pretend to be conservative resemble dinosaurs? – or would that be coelacanths?
#7 – Just because he owned you is no reason to get pissy.
#5 – MikeN,
What exactly do you think had to be thrown out?
Evolution says that species evolved, period. It doesn’t say that species go extinct when new ones are formed. Lazarus species do not do a thing to affect evolution.
#6 – RBG,
Actually, you’re half right. Dinosaurs are very successful. Extant dinosaurs still outnumber mammal species two to one. We see them everyday. Birds are dinosaurs.
The coelacanth was thought to be extinct. When it was discovered live, they saw that the theories they had about its physiology and how it fits into the evolutionary chain were completely wrong. It was a case of scientists making theories to fit in with evolution.
Here’s a photo of the actual fish that was caught:
10. As I mentioned, it’s current and different scale structure shows even the coelacanth has evolved a bit. But there are plenty of plants and animals that appear to have stopped evolving including some sharks and crocodiles. Evolution only occurs if the change gives the species an advantage for replication purposes. No advantage = little evolution. If an organism is perfectly suited to its environment an evolutionary change might not be an advantage.
That said, you might be the evidence of coelacanth evolution.
“Taken together, the independent work of these scientists provides several lines of compelling evidence supporting the Coelacanth as a likely candidate for the fishy progenitor of land-dwelling vertebrates.”
http://tinyurl.com/2xcraf
RBG
#10 – MikeN,
I think you are confusing the categorization of taxonomy with evolution. I’d strongly suggest that you read a little about what evolution actually does say.
Given a perfect fossil record and DNA for all species that ever lived, it would be easy, though time-consuming, to construct an exact cladogram of the hierarchy of all life that ever existed on this planet.
Given our actual fossil record, where not every species that ever existed fossilized with retrievable DNA, we are constantly trying to work out, to the best of our ability, what the cladogram should look like.
The exact state of our information about the details of the fossil record and where each animal fits, and even the finding of Lazarus species long thought extinct, has no effect whatsoever on the details of evolutionary theory or the theory of natural selection.
Really, I’d suggest some basic reading on the subject before making such comments. And, reading books on apologetics is not going to get you there. Read some Gould books if you want to read about evolution from someone who won’t be judgmental of your mythology. Perhaps This View of Life would be a nice, non-controversial start.
#8, Do the girls still bully you at recess?
Geeze, what a juvenile statement.
Well, if it’s almost extinct, I’m glad we took the time and trouble to kill this one too.
#14 – No, you’ve never produced enough offence to be considered a bully.
As for the fish, I bet it’s great with a little lemon butter.
E mesmo uma maravilha!