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Paleoendemism: Examples

Coelacanth

The coelacanth is a bottom-dwelling fish that is often considered a living fossil due to the conservation of morphology from ancient relatives, but a more accurate definition is that they are paleoendemic because they are phylogenetic relicts--they diverged roughly 390-409 million years ago and are the only living members -- and they are geographic relicts because the range of the extant coelacanths are greatly reduced from their formerly global distribution (the Latimeria genus being the only living member of the order Coelacanthiformes). Evidence for coelacanth phylogenetic relicts comes from morphological studies and fossil records along with genetic studies. Fossils of Coelicanthiformes have been found worldwide in both fresh and ocean waters; the closest relative of Latimeria in the fossil record is the genus Megalocoelacanthus (also from the family Latimeriidae) found in the southern United States. Of the two extant species, Latimeria chalumnae is found in small populations along the eastern coast of Africa, while L. menadoensis is found in the waters around Indonesia.

Other known animal examples


 * Tuatara
 * Lungfish

References

[these are for coelacanth, will start to combine sections]