I remember a while back when you couldnt figure out what Sway’s meant by Coelacanth… well, i finally did some research… this is an interesting read… especially the last paragraph… have fun!
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. But the Coelacanth retains some features that are uniquely its own. These include:
- a hinge at the back of the skull that allows the Coelacanth to open its mouth especially wide, a hollow backbone (the name Coelacanth means “hollow spine”)
- a trilobate (three-lobed) caudal fin, with upper and lower halves separated by a small secondary tail which may help the fish swim better; thick, armor-like cosmoid scales
- a tiny heart that is a more-or-less straight tube (not bent into an S-shape, as in most modern fishes)
- a braincase filled mostly with fat, embedded in which is the puny brain (occupying less than 1.5% of the braincase)
It’s hard to believe that readers of this webpage could have evolved from an illiterate fathead like the Coelacanth. Maybe the Coelacanth is that long-lost relative no one in the family talks about! I won’t tell if you won’t.