STANFORD, Calif., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said they plan to sequence the genome of an ancient fish in hopes of finding clues about how animals evolved to live on dry land.
Stanford University researchers are examining the genetic code from the coelacanth, a 5-foot-long, 130-pound fish originally thought to be extinct until a live individual was caught in 1938 off South Africa.
Scientists now know a small coelacanth population still inhabits cool, deep-water caves in the Indian Ocean. Its lobed fins, skeleton structure and large, round scales are nearly unchanged from its fossilized ancestors. This resemblance makes it an attractive target for genetic sequencing, the researchers said.
The goal, they said, is to see if there are any genetic markers in the fish that are lacking in the genomes of dry-land animals. Those markers might help reveal traits that allowed evolution to move some creatures from the oceans to the continents.
