Sneak preview of “The coelacanth, its evolution, and how fish first came onto land”

In the last talk of this year’s Midsummer Nights’ Science series, ӳ��ý research scientist Jessica Alföldi will discuss the history of the enigmatic coelacanth and what its genome has taught us about our own evolution. The African coelacanth, whose genome was sequenced earlier this year, is a highly...

By Veronica Meade-Kelly

July 26, 2013

In the last talk of this year’s series, ӳ��ý research scientist will discuss the history of the enigmatic coelacanth and what its genome has taught us about our own evolution.

The African coelacanth, whose , is a highly unusual fish that closely resembles the fossils of its 300-million-year-old ancestors. Scientists have debated for decades about whether it truly is a slow-evolving fish, and how closely related it is to our own ancestor – the fish that first came up onto land.

In this sneak preview, Alföldi gives a short introduction to the coelacanth’s story, and to the themes of her July 31st talk. While registration for this free, public lecture is now closed, you can still follow the event online: we will be live tweeting the talk on (hashtag: ). Alföldi’s entire lecture will also be available on our a few days after the event.