Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the class Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed internal skeleton. Lungfish represent the closest living relatives of the tetrapods. The mouths of lungfish typically bear tooth plates, which are used to crush hard shelled organisms.
Neoceratodus is a genus of lungfish in the family Neoceratodontidae. The extant Australian lungfish is the only surviving member of this genus, but it was formerly much more widespread, being distributed throughout Africa, Australia, and South America. Species were also much more diverse in body plan; for example, the Cretaceous species Neoceratodus africanus was a gigantic species that coexisted with Spinosaurus in what is now the Kem Kem Formation of Morocco. The earliest fossils from this genus are of Neoceratodus potkooroki from the mid Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation of Australia; remains from the Late Jurassic of Uruguay assigned to this genus probably do not belong to the genus.
Protopterus is the genus of four species of lungfish found in Africa. Protopterus is considered the sole genus in the family Protopteridae, which is sometimes grouped with Lepidosiren in the family Lepidosirenidae.
Ferganoceratodus is a genus of prehistoric lungfish known from the Mesozoic of Asia. Based on morphological evidence, it has either been recovered as a basal member of the Ceratodontiformes or to be the sister group of the Neoceratodontidae.
Gnathorhiza is an extinct genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish (lungfish) which lived from the Carboniferous period to the Early Triassic epoch. It is the only known lungfish genus to have crossed the Permo-Triassic boundary. Several species have been described, ranging in size from 5 to 50 centimeters.
Gosfordia is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish known from the Triassic of Australia.
Howidipterus is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian or lobe-finned fish.
Hainbergia is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian or lobe-finned fish.
Oervigia is an extinct genus of lungfish in the family Rhinodipteridae from the Devonian of Greenland.
Metaceratodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish in the family Ceratodontidae, with an indeterminate specimen known from the Late Triassic (Norian)-aged Lissauer Breccia of Poland and more complete specimens known from the Late Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia and Argentina. The genus was named and described by Frederick Chapman in 1914.
Sagenodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish. It is a lungfish from the Permo-Carboniferous period found in Europe and North America.
Ptychoceratodus is an extinct genus of lungfish living from Early Triassic to Middle Jurassic. It was established by Otto Jaekel for one species, transferred from Ceratodus genus. Type species is P. serratus from the Middle Triassic of Switzerland and Germany. Ptychoceratodus had two pairs of massive dental plates, bearing 4-6 acute ridges. Its skull roof was composed from massive, plate-like bones. In the central part of skull roof was localized an unossified fenestra. Most of the Ptychoceratodus findings are isolated dental plates, some associated with jaws. Other parts of skull or postcranial skeleton are relatively rarely found as fossils. The anatomy of skull is the best recognized in P. serratus, whereas less complete cranial material is available also for P. concinuus, P. phillipsi, and P. rectangulus. Although Ptychoceratodus is known exclusively from the Triassic and Jurassic, there were also Cretaceous specimens referred to this genus. However, they are more often regarded as representants of Metaceratodus. Ptychoceratodus is the only member of the family Ptychoceratodontidae. The first named species is P. phillipsi by Louis Agassiz in 1837 as a species of Ceratodus and later moved to Ptychoceratodus genus. Occurrences of Ptychoceratodus come mainly from Europe. However, occurrences from other continents suggest it was dispersed globally during the Triassic. After 2010, the new fossil material behind the Europe was reported from South America, India, and Greenland
Paraceratodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish. Only one species, P. germaini, is known from the latest Permian or earliest Triassic period of Madagascar. Phylogenetic evidence supports it being the most basal member of the suborder Ceratodontoidei, which contains modern lungfish, and as with the rest of the order it likely diverged during the late Carboniferous.
Tranodis is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygians or lobe-finned fish. It was a lungfish from the Upper Mississippian of North America.
Sorbitorhynchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygians, or lobe-finned fish. Fossils of this genus of marine lungfish have been found in Guangxi, China. The only described species in this genus is Sorbitorhynchus deleaskitus, but the holotype for this species may show some unusual malformations and thus not be useful for taxonomic or phylogenetic analysis.
Scaumenacia is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish. It lived around the Devonian in North America alongside another prehistoric lungfish: Fleurantia. It lived from approximately 384 to 376 millions of years ago.
The Lueders Formation is a geologic formation in Texas. It is the top formation of the Albany Group and preserves fossils dating back to the Permian period.
Neoceratodontidae is a family of lungfish containing Neoceratodus and the extinct Mioceratodus. It, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopteridae represent the only lungfish families still extant.
Ceratodontiformes is the only extant order of lungfish, containing the families Neoceratodontidae, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopteridae as well as many other extinct groups. Members of this group are the only lungfish known to have survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Although lungfish originated in marine environments, the Ceratodontiformes have been an exclusively freshwater group since the Carboniferous.
Anne Kemp is an Australian ichthyologist and paleoichthyologist who specializes in lungfishes. Her primary area of study is the Australian lungfish. She has served as a research fellow at Griffith University since 2010. Prior to this, she had also served as a research fellow at Queensland Museum between 1980 and 1991, and at the Centre of Microscopy at the University of Queensland between 1999 and 2008.
