Coelacanth
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| Coelacanths Fossil range: Devonian - Recent |
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 Coelacanth
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A Coelacanth is a fish that lives in the Indian Ocean. Coelacanths are very rare. Coelacanths are also found as fossils as old as some dinosaurs.
Coelacanth is pronounced 'see-la-canth'
[change] Characteristics
The Coelacanth is the only living example of the fossil Coelacanth fishes. They are also the closest link between fish and the first amphibian creatures which made the transition from sea to land in the Devonian period (408-362 Million Years Ago). That such a creature could have existed for so long is nearly incredible, but some say that the cold depths of the West Indian ocean at which the Coelacanth thrives, and the small number of predators it has, may have helped the species survive eons of change.
[change] Discovery
The Coelacanth was first discovered in 1938 by Marjorie Courtenay Latimer, the curator of a small museum in the port town of East London, as she was visiting a fisherman who would let her search through his boat's catch for interesting specimens.
