Coelacanths thrived in Switzerland after a mass extinction

Fossils of coelacanth discovered in Ticino reveal the existence of an unexpected diversification after the greatest mass extinction in the history of life. Reconstitution of a Rieppelia heinzfurreri coelacanth discovered in Ticino. ©Philippe-Wagneur-MHNG - The study of a new species of coelacanth from the Middle Triassic period, with a strange morphology for these fish known as "living fossil", show the formation of several species in a short time, after a mass extinction that occurred 252 million years ago, with more than 80% of marine species disappearing. Researchers from the Museum of Natural History of Geneva and the University of Geneva have compared fossils discovered in the Grisons and in Ticino. Their findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports . Coelacanths are strange fish that are currently only known from two species found along the East African coast and in Indonesia. Their fins, among other characteristics, show that these animals are evolutionarily closer to terrestrial vertebrates, including humans, than to other fish.