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Protopteridae
''Protopterus'' is the genus of four species of lungfish found in Africa. ''Protopterus'' is considered the monotypic, sole genus in the family Protopteridae, which is grouped with ''South American lungfish, Lepidosiren'' in the order Lepidosireniformes. Taxonomy The earliest fossils of the Protopteridae come from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of Sudan, but phylogenetic evidence indicates that it and Lepidosirenidae split at the very beginning of the Early Cretaceous, around 145 Ma. Together, their common ancestor diverged from the only other extant lungfishes in Neoceratodontidae during the Late Jurassic. Some papers suggest grouping ''Protopterus'' and ''Lepidosiren'' together in the family Lepidosirenidae, as their Cretaceous divergence is relatively recent compared to the Carboniferous origins of other lungfish families. However, most taxonomic authorities retain them as distinct families. Description African lungfish are elongated, eel-like fishes with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilled Lungfish
The gilled lungfish (''Protopterus amphibius''), also known as the East African lungfish, is a species of African lungfish. It is found in the swamps and flood plains of East Africa, and has been positively identified in Kenya, Somalia and Mozambique. Records from Tanzania require confirmation and may be the result of introductions. Description ''Protopterus amphibius'' generally only reaches a length of , making it the smallest extant lungfish.Primitive Fishes.com (Retrieved Feb. 19, 2010.) This lungfish is uniform blue or slate grey in colour. It has small or inconspicuous black spots and a pale grey belly. Like all African lungfish it has two lungs and is an obligate air-breather. Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the class Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed internal skeleton. Lungfish represent the closest living relatives of the tetrapods (which includes living amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). The mouths of lungfish typically bear tooth plates, which are used to crush hard shelled organisms. Today there are only six known species of lungfish, living in Africa, South America, and Australia, though they were formerly globally distributed. The fossil record of the group extends into the Early Devonian, over 410 million years ago. The earliest known members of the group were marine, while almost all post-Carboniferous representatives inhabit freshwater environments. Etymology Dipnoi is Modern Latin derived from the Greek δίπν ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marbled Lungfish
The marbled lungfish (''Protopterus aethiopicus'') is a lungfish of the family Protopteridae. Also known as the leopard lungfish, it is found in Eastern and Central Africa, as well as the Nile region. At 133 billion base pairs, it has the largest known genome of any animal and one of the largest of any organism, along with the flowering plant '' Paris japonica'', the fern '' Tmesipteris oblanceolata'' and the protist ''Polychaos dubium'' at 150 billion, 160 billion and 670 billion, respectively. The marbled lungfish is caught in large numbers throughout much of its range, including several hundred metric tonnes per year in Mwanza Region's Mwanza Gulf of Lake Victoria alone. It is mostly a food fish, although this varies depending on the exact community, with some recognizing it as a delicacy and others strongly disliking its taste or considering it as a taboo to eat it. In some regions, parts of this fish are used as traditional medicine. Description The marbled lungfish is smoot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West African Lungfish
The West African lungfish (''Protopterus annectens''), also known as the Tana lungfish or simply African lungfish, is a species of African lungfish. It is found in a wide range of freshwater habitats in West Africa, West and Central Africa, Middle Africa, as well as the northern half of Southern Africa. Description ''Protopterus annectens'' is an ancient fish thought to have existed for over 400 million years. This longevity is due to its physiological adaptations, which allow it to survive periods of drought, making the lungfish resilient in many habitats. ''P. annectens'' is known for its eel-like appearance with an anguilliform body. It has pelvic fins that are described as "whip-like" with skeletal elements. It has a prominent snout and small eyes that are known to be partially blind. Although their eyesight is not well-developed, they have sensory structures called Lateral line, lateral lines. These structures allow them to detect water movement. These sensory receptors ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoceratodontidae
Neoceratodontidae is a Family (biology), family of lungfish containing ''Neoceratodus'' (represented by the extant Australian lungfish) and the extinct ''Mioceratodus''. It, South American lungfish, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopterus, Protopteridae represent the only lungfish families still extant. Fossils from Triassic-aged sediments in Kyrgyzstan were previously assigned to this family, but phylogenetic evidence indicates that it diverged from the common ancestors of the African and South American lungfish during the Late Jurassic. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q10296196 Lungfish Extant Middle Triassic first appearances Lungfish families ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spotted Lungfish
The spotted lungfish or slender lungfish (''Protopterus dolloi'') is a species of lungfish from Middle Africa, where found in the Congo, Kouilou-Niari and Ogowe river basins. It is one of four extant species in the genus ''Protopterus''. Habitat The slender lungfish is a freshwater fish and it largely inhabits the middle and lower Congo River basin. It is a primarily demersal fish, dwelling in the riverbeds of the above basins and in Stanley Pool. During spawning season, females can be found in open water. Biology The slender lungfish has an anguilliform body, much like an eel. The body of the slender lungfish is generally brown; young of the species oftentimes have black spots throughout the body, however adults generally lose these spots as they age. Like all African lungfish the slender lungfish is an obligate air-breather and is capable of aestivation; however, it generally does not aestivate. When it does aestivate, the lungfish creates a dry mucus cocoon on land. As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South American Lungfish
The South American lungfish (''Lepidosiren paradoxa''), also known as the American mud-fish and scaly salamanderfish, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon Basin, Amazon, Paraguay River, Paraguay, and lower Paraná River drainage basin, basins in South America. Notable as an obligate air-breather, it is the sole member of its family Lepidosirenidae, although some authors also place ''Protopterus'' in the family. In Brazil, it is known by the indigenous language Tupi language, Tupi name , which means "snake-fish" (), and synonyms (), (), and (). Taxonomy The South American lungfish is most closely related to the African lungfishes (family Protopterus, Protopteridae), and both families are thought to have diverged during the Early Cretaceous. Some papers suggest classifying both ''Lepidosiren'' and ''Protopterus'' within Lepidosirenidae, though authorities continue to classify both as distinct families. Description The immature lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, ''Malm'' was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: Paleogeography During the Late Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the emergence of the Atlantic Ocean, which initially was relatively narrow. Life forms This epoch is well known for many famous types of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pectoral Fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column, back bone and are supported only by muscles. Fish fins are distinctive anatomical features with varying structures among different clades: in ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii), fins are mainly composed of bone, bony spine (zoology), spines or ray (fish fin anatomy), rays covered by a thin stretch of fish scale, scaleless skin; in lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) such as coelacanths and lungfish, fins are short rays based around a muscular central limb bud, bud supported by appendicular skeleton, jointed bones; in cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) and jawless fish (Agnatha), fins are fleshy "flipper (anatomy), flippers" supported by a cartilaginous skeleton. Fins at different locations of the fish body serve different purposes, and are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelvic Fin
Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods, which evolved from lobe-finned fish during the Middle Devonian. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two endochondrally-derived bony girdles attached to bony radials. Dermal fin rays ( lepidotrichia) are positioned distally from the radials. There are three pairs of muscles each on the dorsal and ventral side of the pelvic fin girdle that abduct and adduct the fin from the body. Pelvic fin structures can be extremely specialized in actinopterygians. Gobiids and lumpsuckers modify their pelvic fins into a sucker disk that allow them to adhere to the substrate or climb structures, such as waterfalls. In priapiumfish, males have modified their pelvic structures into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fish Scale
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as well as possible hydrodynamic advantages. The term ''scale'' derives from the Old French , meaning a shell pod or husk. Scales vary enormously in size, shape, structure, and extent, ranging from strong and rigid armour plates in fishes such as shrimpfishes and boxfishes, to microscopic or absent in fishes such as eels and anglerfishes. The morphology (biology), morphology of a scale can be used to identify the species of fish it came from. Scales originated within the jawless ostracoderms, ancestors to all jawed fishes today. Most bony fishes are covered with the cycloid scales of salmon and carp, or the ctenoid scales of perch, or the ganoid scales of sturgeons and gars. Cartilaginous fishes (sharks and rays) are covered with placoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campanian
The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian spans the time from 83.6 (± 0.2) to 72.1 (± 0.2) million years ago. It is preceded by the Santonian and it is followed by the Maastrichtian. The Campanian was an age when a worldwide sea level rise covered many coastal areas. The morphology of some of these areas has been preserved: it is an unconformity beneath a cover of marine sedimentary rocks. Etymology The Campanian was introduced in scientific literature by Henri Coquand in 1857. It is named after the French village of Champagne in the department of Charente-Maritime. The original type locality was a series of outcrops near the village of Aubeterre-sur-Dronne in the same region. Definition The base of the Campanian Stage is defined as a place in the stratigraphic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
