Living-Fossil Fish’s Genome Gives Clues of Landlubbers
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The fish known as a living fossil for its close resemblance to ancient predecessors had its genome sequenced by scientists who say it offers clues to how animal ancestors crawled out of the sea.
African coelacanth, discovered alive in 1938 after having been presumed extinct for 70 million years, was found to have genes that reveal how land animals’ hands, feet, immune systems and other body features may have evolved, according to a report in the journal Nature.