Animal Kingdom Question 46
Question: Which of the following is a living fossil?
Options:
A) Latimeria
B) Lamprey
C) Shark
Eel
Show Answer
Answer:
Correct Answer: A
Solution:
The horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is a living fossil. Forms almost identical to this species were present during the Triassic period 230 million years ago, and similar species were present in the Devonian, a staggering 400 million years ago.
Latimeria is a rare genus of fish that includes two extant species- West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis).
They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish, amphibians, and mammals than to the common ray-finned fishes.
It is known as a living fossil. Archaeopteryx lived in the Late Jurassic period around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany during a time when Europe was an archipelago of islands in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now.
Thus, option D is correct.
BETA
