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Scientists found the best-preserved coelacanth fossil, dating back 380 million years, from the Gogo Formation on Gooniyandi Country in northern Western Australia.
A study published in Nature Communications reveals that tectonic activity, not ocean conditions, drove the evolution of coelacanths over millions of years.
The new fossil species is named Ngamugawi wirngarri in honor of a respected Gooniyandi elder.
Coelacanths
Coelacanth, a giant fish regarded as an iconic example of a “living fossil.”
Coelacanths are elusive, deep-sea creatures, living in depths up to 2,300 feet below the surface.
These were thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
But its discovery in 1938 started a debate about how this lobe-finned fish fits into the evolution of land animals.
There are only two known species of coelacanths:
one that lives near the Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa,
one found in the waters off Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Protection Status:
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Sulawesi Coelacanth is listed as ‘vulnerable’.
CITES Status: Appendix I
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