The Lungfish reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004
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Lungfish

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For the musical band, see Lungfish (band).

Lungfishes
Queensland LungfishEnlarge

Queensland Lungfish

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Sarcopterygii
Subclass: Dipnoi
Orderss
see text


Lungfishes are sarcopterygian fish that can breathe air (and in some species are obligate air-breathers), and have limb-like appendages instead of fins. There are six living species known; four in Africa, and one each in South America and Australia.

They all have an elongate body, four limbs, and a single rear fin.

Taxonomically, they present some difficulty because of their resemblances to both fish and land-dwelling vertebrates, and have been classified in a variety of ways, ranging from class Dipnoi, to infraclass Dipnomorpha, to order Dipteriformes. However, there is general agreement that there are two main subcategories, here given as orders.

Ceratodontiformes

Order Ceratodontiformes is characterized by having broad flipper-like fins and an unpaired lung.

Lepidosireniformes

Members of Lepidosireniformes have thread-like fins and paired lungs.