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Latimeriidae

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Latimeriidae
Temporal range: Middle Triassic–present
West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)
Undina pencillata, an extinct species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Class: Actinistia
Order: Coelacanthiformes
Suborder: Latimerioidei
Family: Latimeriidae
Berg, 1940
Genera
Life restoration of Foreyia, an aberrant latimeriid from the Triassic of Europe

Latimeriidae is the only extant family of coelacanths, an ancient lineage of lobe-finned fish. It contains two extant species in the genus Latimeria, found in deep waters off the coasts of southern Africa and east-central Indonesia. In addition, several fossil genera are known from the Mesozoic of Europe, the Middle East, and the southeastern United States, dating back to the Triassic.[2][3][4]

The latimeriids are thought to have always been an exclusively marine group. They may have originated in the western Tethys Sea, as many of the earliest species are known from areas that it formerly covered.[5] The largest known member of the family, the Late Cretaceous Megalocoelacanthus, may have reached 4.5 metres in length.[6] The Latimeriidae are thought to be the sister group to the Mawsoniidae, an extinct family of coelacanths that survived until the Late Cretaceous, inhabited both freshwater and marine habitats, and contained some very large species. Together, both comprise the suborder Latimerioidei.[5][7]

Cladogram after Toriño et al., 2021.[7]

Latimeriidae

References

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  1. ^ Ferrante, C.; Cavin, L. (2023). "Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 11356. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1311356F. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-37849-9. PMC 10345187. PMID 37443368.
  2. ^ "Fossilworks: Latimeriidae". www.fossilworks.org. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  3. ^ "FAMILY Details for Latimeriidae - Gombessa". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  4. ^ "Mindat.org". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  5. ^ a b Uyeno, Teruya; Yabumoto, Yoshitaka (November 2007). "ORIGIN OF EXTANT COELACANTHS". ResearchGate.
  6. ^ Dutel, Hugo; Maisey, John G.; Schwimmer, David R.; Janvier, Philippe; Herbin, Marc; Clément, Gaël (2012-11-27). Soares, Daphne (ed.). "The Giant Cretaceous Coelacanth (Actinistia, Sarcopterygii) Megalocoelacanthus dobiei Schwimmer, Stewart & Williams, 1994, and Its Bearing on Latimerioidei Interrelationships". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e49911. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...749911D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049911. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3507921. PMID 23209614.
  7. ^ a b Toriño, Pablo; Soto, Matías; Perea, Daniel (2021-12-02). "A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of coelacanth fishes (Sarcopterygii, Actinistia) with comments on the composition of the Mawsoniidae and Latimeriidae: evaluating old and new methodological challenges and constraints". Historical Biology. 33 (12): 3423–3443. Bibcode:2021HBio...33.3423T. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1867982. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 233942585.