What is Lungfish?
{{Taxobox | name = Lungfish | fossil_range = Early [[Devonian]] - Recent | image = Australian-Lungfish.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = [[Queensland Lungfish]] | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | subphylum = [[Vertebrate|Vertebrata]] | classis = [[Sarcopterygii]] | ordo = [[Dipnoi]] | subclassis_authority = [[Johannes Peter Müller|J. P. Müller]], 1844 | subdivision_ranks = Orders | subdivision = * [[Ceratodontiformes]] *[[Lepidosireniformes]] }} '''Lungfish''' are members of the order '''Dipnoi'''. They are a sister group to the [[coelacanth]]s and to the early [[lobe-finned fish]] which gave rise to the [[tetrapod]]s. All these fish have [[wikt:pair|pair]]ed [[wikt:appendage|appendage]]s, [[fin]]s or [[limb]]s, attached to a [[pelvis]] or [[shoulder]] by means of a single bone, the [[femur]] or [[humerus]].<ref>Maisey, John G. 1996. Discovering fossil fishes. Holt, New York. p193 {{ISBN|0-8050-4366-7}}</ref> The living members of the group are special [[freshwater]] [[fish]]. They are the only living fish that have both [[lung]]s and [[gill]]s. They need this because they live in small [[lake]]s and [[river]]s that sometimes dry up. When this happens, these fish don't die, but they can survive in the [[mud]], for up to 4 years. They use their lungs during this time. This is called [[aestivation]], which is a type of [[dormancy]]. Currently there 8 species of lungfish, six of them in [[Africa]], one in [[South America]] and [[Queensland lungfish|one]] in [[Australia]]. == References == {{Reflist}} {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Lobe-finned fish]] [[Category:Freshwater fish]]