{"id":18925,"date":"2022-10-16T19:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T17:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=128580"},"modified":"2022-10-16T19:18:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T17:18:10","slug":"what-is-a-coelacanth","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/what-is-a-coelacanth\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a coelacanth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Helen Pilcher\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 16 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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For years, scientists thought it died out with the dinosaurs. The only known coelacanths were fossils<\/a>. Then in 1938, a South African museum curator found a dead one in a fisherman\u2019s catch. Live specimens were later caught,\u00a0proving\u00a0that this curious fish\u00a0was never actually extinct.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The well-preserved Coelacanth fossil displayed on a limestone slab \u00a9 Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Living deep in the waters around Africa\u2019s Comoro Islands and Indonesia\u2019s Sulawesi, this big,\u00a0bottom-dweller is unlike any other living fish.<\/p>\n

Weird True Fact 1:\u00a0it has eight fins, including two pairs which stick out from the body like legs. It doesn\u2019t use them for walking though. They\u2019re more like the stabilisers you get on kids\u2019 bikes.<\/p>\n

WTF 2:\u00a0instead of a bony backbone, coelacanths have a hollow, oil-filled tube called a notochord<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WTF 3:\u00a0they are fatheads. The\u00a0brain occupies just 1.5\u00a0per cent\u00a0of its braincase\u00a0and the\u00a0rest is filled with fat.<\/p>\n

It also has thick scales, a unique jaw joint, a huge gape, and an organ in the snout for electroreception<\/a>. By detecting electrostatic fields, they can use this intel to avoid obstacles and detect prey.<\/p>\n