Editing Coelacanth (section)

== Discovery ==
[[File:Coelacanthus granulatus.JPG|left|thumb|Fossil of ''[[Coelacanthus|Coelacanthus granulatus]],'' the first described coelacanth, named by [[Louis Agassiz]] in 1839]]
The earliest fossils of coelacanths were discovered in the 19th century. Coelacanths, which are related to [[lungfish]]es and [[tetrapod]]s, were believed to have become [[extinction|extinct]] at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period.<ref>{{cite web|title = Coelacanth – Deep Sea Creatures on Sea and Sky|url = http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/coelacanth.html|website = seasky.org|access-date = 2015-10-27}}</ref> More closely related to tetrapods than to the [[ray-finned fish]], coelacanths were considered transitional species between fish and tetrapods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meyer |first=Axel |title=Molecular evidence on the origin of tetrapods and the relationships of the coelacanth |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=111–116 |doi=10.1016/s0169-5347(00)89004-7 |pmid=21236972 |year=1995 |bibcode=1995TEcoE..10..111M |url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-36291 |type=Submitted manuscript}}</ref> On 22 December 1938, the first ''[[Latimeria]]'' specimen was found off the east coast of South Africa, off the [[Chalumna River]] (now Tyolomnqa).<ref name=Smith /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer |url=https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/marjorie-courtenay-latimer/ |date=24 February 2020|access-date=2024-12-20 |website=The Linda Hall Library |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=J. L. B. |date=March 1939 |title=A Living Fish of Mesozoic Type |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/143455a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=143 |issue=3620 |pages=455–456 |doi=10.1038/143455a0 |bibcode=1939Natur.143..455S |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> Museum curator [[Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer]] discovered the fish among the catch of a local fisherman.<ref name=Smith /> Courtenay-Latimer contacted a Rhodes University ichthyologist, [[J. L. B. Smith]], sending him drawings of the fish, and he confirmed the fish's importance with a famous cable: "Most Important Preserve Skeleton and Gills = Fish Described."<ref name=Smith />

Its discovery 66 million years after its supposed extinction makes the coelacanth the best-known example of a [[Lazarus taxon]], an evolutionary line that seems to have disappeared from the fossil record only to reappear much later. Since 1938, [[West Indian Ocean coelacanth]] have been found in the [[Comoros]], [[Kenya]], [[Tanzania]], [[Mozambique]], [[Madagascar]], in [[iSimangaliso Wetland Park]], and off the South Coast of [[Kwazulu-Natal]] in South Africa.<ref name=venter>{{cite journal|last1=Venter|first1=P.|last2=Timm|first2=P.|last3=Gunn|first3=G.|last4=le Roux|first4=E.|last5=Serfontein|first5=C.|year=2000|title=Discovery of a viable population of coelacanths (''Latimeria chalumnae'' Smith, 1939) at Sodwana Bay, South Africa|journal=South African Journal of Science|volume=96|issue=11/12|pages=567–568}}</ref><ref name="Fraser et al 2020" >{{cite journal|url=https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/7806/9870 |title=Live coelacanth discovered off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa  |journal=South African Journal of Science |volume=116 |issue=3/4 March/April 2020 |first1=Michael D. |last1=Fraser |first2=Bruce A.S. |last2=Henderson |first3=Pieter B. |last3=Carstens |first4=Alan D. |last4=Fraser |first5=Benjamin S. |last5=Henderson |first6=Marc D. |last6=Dukes |first7=Michael N. |last7=Bruton |doi=10.17159/sajs.2020/7806 |date=26 March 2020 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The [[Comoro Islands]] specimen was discovered in December 1952.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11755015/prehistoric_fish_offers_rare_glimpse_of/|title=Prehistoric fish offers rare glimpse of hidden sea life – Coelacanth (1953)|date=1953-02-23|work=Abilene Reporter-News|access-date=2017-06-18|page=25}}</ref> Between 1938 and 1975, 84 specimens were caught and recorded.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11755368/70millionyearold_fish_dissected/|title=70-million-year-old fish dissected – Coaelacanth (1975)|date=1975-05-28|work=Redlands Daily Facts|access-date=2017-06-18|page=6}}</ref>

The second [[Extant taxon|extant]] species, the [[Indonesian coelacanth]], was described from [[Manado]], North Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 1999 by Pouyaud et al.<ref name=Pouyaud>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0764-4469(99)80061-4 |title=Une nouvelle espèce de cœlacanthe. Preuves génétiques et morphologiques |trans-title=A new species of coelacanth. Genetic and morphologic proof |language=fr |year=1999 |last1=Pouyaud |first1=Laurent |last2=Wirjoatmodjo |first2=Soetikno |last3=Rachmatika |first3=Ike |last4=Tjakrawidjaja |first4=Agus |last5=Hadiaty |first5=Renny |last6=Hadie |first6=Wartono |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences |volume=322 |issue=4 |pages=261–7 |bibcode=1999CRASG.322..261P |pmid=10216801}}</ref> based on a specimen discovered by [[Mark V. Erdmann]] in 1998<ref name=Erdmann>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/26376 |year=1998 |last1=Erdmann |first1=Mark V. |last2=Caldwell |first2=Roy L. |last3=Moosa |first3=M. Kasim |journal=Nature |volume=395 |issue=6700 |page=335 |bibcode=1998Natur.395..335E |title=Indonesian 'king of the sea' discovered|s2cid=204997216 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and deposited at the [[Indonesian Institute of Sciences]] (LIPI).<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/dispute-over-legendary-fish |title= Dispute Over a Legendary Fish|first= Constance |last=Holden|date=30 March 1999 |journal=Science |volume= 284|issue= 5411|pages= 22–3|doi= 10.1126/science.284.5411.22b|pmid= 10215525|s2cid= 5441807}}</ref> Erdmann and his wife Arnaz Mehta first encountered a specimen at a local market in September 1997, but took only a few photographs of the first specimen of this species before it was sold. After confirming that it was a unique discovery, Erdmann returned to Sulawesi in November 1997 to interview fishermen and look for further examples. A second specimen was caught by a fisherman in July 1998 and was then handed to Erdmann.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Coelacanth discovery in Indonesia |first=Henry |last=Gee |date= 1 October 1998 | journal=Nature | doi=10.1038/news981001-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanth1.html |title=The Discovery |publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology }}</ref>