The Coelacanth: An Odd Fish

By Eric Ribbens, Robert H. Grant

Abstract

This "clicker case" is a redesign of a case, also in our collection, by Robert H. Grant titled "A Strange Fish Indeed: The 'Discovery' of a Living Fossil." The case follows the story of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer and her discovery of the coelacanth, a fish of considerable evolutionary interest. It uses the story as a springboard to explore evolutionary concepts and the scientific method. It has been reformatted to use student personal response systems (“clickers”) and a PowerPoint presentation (~4.2MB), and further emphasizes the role of Ms. Courtenay-Latimer. The case is designed for large introductory biology courses.

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Date Posted

11/16/2009

Overview

Objectives

Explore the excitement of discovering a new species.
Present the concept of "living fossils."
Encourage students to think about what should be done next.

Keywords

Coelacanth; Latimeria chalumnae; missing link; phylogeny; derived characteristic; evolution; extinction; fossil record; lobe-finned; ray-finned; fish; ichthyology; J.L.B. Smith; Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer; East London Museum; South Africa

Subject Headings

Biology (General)

Evolutionary Biology

Paleontology

Zoology

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

High school, Undergraduate lower division

FORMAT

PDF, PowerPoint

TOPICAL AREAS

History of science, Scientific method, Women in science

LANGUAGE

English

TYPE/METHODS

Clicker, Interrupted

Teaching Notes & Answer Key

Teaching Notes

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Answer Key

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Materials & Media

Supplemental Materials

Videos

Animated Life: The Living Fossil Fish
This animated short film tells the engaging tale of the discovery of the coelacanth. In 1938, South African museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer came across a strange blue fin poking out of a pile of fish. With its fleshy, lobed fins and its tough armored scales, the coelacanth did not look like any other fish that exists today. The coelacanth belongs to a lineage that has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, earning it the description of a "living fossil." Running time: 7:18 min. Produced by: HHMI BioInteractive, 2016.
Click and Learn: Great Transitions Interactive - The Origin of Tetrapods
The fossils of transitional creatures were key evidence for Darwin’s evolutionary theory, but none had been found when he published On the Origin of Species. Now, there are many examples of such fossils, which clearly show that big evolutionary leaps consist of many smaller steps. This self-paced "Click and Learn" activity explores transitional forms with features of both fish and tetrapods, and shows the progression of anatomical changes from reconstructed fossil skeletons. Produced by: HHMI BioInteractive, 2015.