Editing Coelacanth (section)

=== Genetics ===
In 2013, a research group published the [[genome sequence]] of the coelacanth in the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref name="genome">{{cite journal | title = The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution | journal = Nature | date = 18 April 2013 | doi = 10.1038/nature12027 | last1 = Amemiya | first1 = Chris T. | last2 = Alföldi | first2 = Jessica | last3 = Lee | first3 = Alison P. | last4 = Fan | first4 = Shaohua | last5 = Philippe | first5 = Hervé | last6 = MacCallum | first6 = Iain | last7 = Braasch | first7 = Ingo | last8 = Manousaki | first8 = Tereza | last9 = Schneider | first9 = Igor | volume = 496 | issue = 7445 | pages = 311–6 | pmid = 23598338 | pmc = 3633110|bibcode = 2013Natur.496..311A | display-authors = 9 | last10 = Rohner | first10 = Nicolas | last11 = Organ | first11 = Chris | last12 = Chalopin | first12 = Domitille | last13 = Smith | first13 = Jeramiah J. | last14 = Robinson | first14 = Mark | last15 = Dorrington | first15 = Rosemary A. | last16 = Gerdol | first16 = Marco | last17 = Aken | first17 = Bronwen | last18 = Biscotti | first18 = Maria Assunta | last19 = Barucca | first19 = Marco | last20 = Baurain | first20 = Denis | last21 = Berlin | first21 = Aaron M. | last22 = Blatch | first22 = Gregory L. | last23 = Buonocore | first23 = Francesco | last24 = Burmester | first24 = Thorsten | last25 = Campbell | first25 = Michael S. | last26 = Canapa | first26 = Adriana | last27 = Cannon | first27 = John P. | last28 = Christoffels | first28 = Alan | last29 = De Moro | first29 = Gianluca | last30 = Edkins | first30 = Adrienne L. }}</ref>

Due to their lobed fins and other features, it was once hypothesized that the coelacanth might be the youngest diverging non-[[tetrapod]] [[Sarcopterygii|sarcopterygian]].<ref name=ref9 /><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/jmor.1051900418|title=Lungfish neural characters and their bearing on sarcopterygian phylogeny|journal=Journal of Morphology|volume=190|pages=277–297|year=1986|last1=Northcutt|first1=R. Glenn|hdl=2027.42/50281|s2cid=35473487|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50281/1/1051900418_ftp.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref> But after sequencing the full genome of the coelacanth, it was discovered that the lungfish instead is more closely related to tetrapods. Coelacanths and [[rhipidistia]]ns (the [[concestor]] of lungfish and tetrapods) had already diverged from each other before the lungfish made the transition to land.<ref name="smithsonianmag.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dna-sequencing-reveals-that-coelacanths-werent-the-missing-link-between-sea-and-land-25025860/?no-ist|title=DNA Sequencing Reveals that Coelacanths Weren't the Missing Link Between Sea and Land|first=Joseph|last=Stromberg|publisher=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

Another important discovery made from the genome sequencing is that the coelacanths are still evolving today. While phenotypic similarity between extant and extinct coelacanths suggests there is limited [[evolutionary pressure]] on these organisms to undergo morphological divergence, they are undergoing measurable genetic divergence. Despite prior studies showing that protein coding regions are undergoing evolution at a substitution rate much lower than other sarcopterygians (consistent with phenotypic stasis observed between extant and fossil members of the taxa), the non-coding regions subject to higher transposable element activity show marked divergence even between the two extant coelacanth species.<ref name="genome" /> This has been facilitated in part by a coelacanth-specific endogenous retrovirus of the Epsilon retrovirus family.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0114382|doi-access=free|title=Interspecies Insertion Polymorphism Analysis Reveals Recent Activity of Transposable Elements in Extant Coelacanths|year=2014|last1=Naville|first1=Magali|last2=Chalopin|first2=Domitille|last3=Volff|first3=Jean-Nicolas|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=12|pages=e114382|pmid=25470617|pmc=4255032|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k4382N}}</ref>[[File:Fishapods.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|In the [[Devonian|Late Devonian]] [[vertebrate]] speciation, descendants of [[Pelagic zone|pelagic]] [[Sarcopterygii|lobe-finned fish]]—like ''[[Eusthenopteron]]''—exhibited a sequence of adaptations: ''[[Panderichthys]]'', suited to muddy shallows; ''[[Tiktaalik]]'' with limb-like fins that could take it up onto land; and [[Tetrapod|Early tetrapods]] in weed-filled swamps, such as ''[[Acanthostega]]'' which had feet with eight digits and ''[[Ichthyostega]]'' with limbs. Descendants also included pelagic lobe-finned fish such as the coelacanth species.]]