Knowra Lungfish Lungfish Lungfish are lobe-finned fishes that breathe air with lungs and extract oxygen from water with gills. Their lineage includes the closest living fish relatives of tetrapods.
Lung : A respiratory organ that exchanges gases between air and blood. Lungfish use lungs to take in atmospheric oxygen, especially when water oxygen is scarce.
Sarcopterygii : The vertebrate group comprising lungfish, coelacanths, and tetrapods, distinguished by fleshy paired fins. Lungfish belong to this broader lobe-finned lineage.
Devonian : A geological period from about 419 to 359 million years ago, marked by diverse fishes and early land vertebrates. Lungfish fossils extend back to this fish-rich period.
Water-to-land transition : The evolutionary transition in which vertebrate ancestors adapted from aquatic life to terrestrial environments. Lungfish help clarify which traits associated with air breathing arose before tetrapods lived on land.
Gills : Organs that extract dissolved oxygen from water and release carbon dioxide. Lungfish retain gills, allowing aquatic gas exchange alongside air breathing.
Tetrapod : A vertebrate with four limbs or descended from a four-limbed ancestor. Lungfish are the closest living fish relatives of the tetrapod lineage.
Fossil lungfish : Extinct lungfish species known from fossils, spanning hundreds of millions of years. Their diversity shows that living lungfish are remnants of a once-wider lineage.
Comparative anatomy : The study of similarities and differences in the structures of different organisms. Comparisons of lungfish lungs, fins, and tetrapod anatomy inform evolutionary research.
Aestivation : A dormant state that helps an animal survive prolonged heat or drought. Some lungfish burrow into mud and aestivate when their habitats dry out.
Lobe-finned fish : A fish with paired fins supported by fleshy, bone-bearing lobes. This body plan places lungfish among the sarcopterygians.
Show all 20