Importance Of Coelacanth Fish

Register to read the introduction… Usually these descendants are long deceased, as evolution continues through time. It was interesting in the case of the sea-coelacanth, that this fish, which was thought to be an ancient ancestor of four legged vertebrate such as humans, was still around and able to be examined in modern day. This is where the term “living fossil” originates, it is not that it is an actual living fossil, but it is a very close example to how an ancestral fish from millions of years ago appeared. It was intriguing to read how the coelacanth swam so differently from the way fish are known to swim. The coelacanth fish swim by moving their fins by alternating them left front, right back and right front, left back in the same way which four legged animals walk the earth. It’s fascinating to think of a fish moving so similar to four legged animals and even more so, moving closely to the way humans …show more content…
Dr. J.L.B Smith searched for these coelacanth fish for over a decade when others may have gave up on finding more of the mystifying fish. The importance of the coelacanth fish find was that it showed that a living fossil that is still living amongst us in the sea. This opens up the area to the possibility that there are many other living fossils existing that could give even more information of our human ancestry and the ancestry of other types of common species. It is thought that human ancestry evolved from ancient species that are long extinct, however if there are members of these ancestral groups which are still in existence, this could give much more insight into the evolution of humans. Having the living fossils gives humans an example that they can see which shows evidence of evolution. This living proof of evolution can lead to much more belief and trust in the theory of evolution. It is important that these types of discoveries continue to further the field of biological science. The possible discovery of important evidence of evolution exists all around; being observant of subtle differences can uncover some of the unfound pieces of the evolutionary