Thought to be extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period (65 mya)

First live specimen was discovered in 1938 by a South African museum curator on a local fishing trawler

Have since been discovered all over the world

Considered a ‘living fossil’

Many shark-like characteristics, however they are bony-fish

Considered the missing link between fish and tetrapods

Elusive deep-sea dwellers (down to 2300 ft.)

Listed as Endangered

Can live up to 60 years Reach up to 6 feet long Weigh up 150 lbs. Give birth to as many as 26 live pups

(develop internally)

Pair of lobe fins that extend away from its body like legs and move in an alternating pattern

Hinged joint in the skull which allows the fish to widen its mouth for large prey

An oil-filled tube, called a notochord, which serves as a backbone

Thick scales common only to extinct fish An electrosensory rostral organ in its

snout likely used to detect prey