Australian Lungfish: Order Ceratodontiformes

The most primative lungfish

The Order Ceratodontiformes contains only one surviving member, the Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri). The fossil record of this group dates back to about 380 million years.  The Australian lungfish have not changed much in the last 100 million years.  In the past there were 6 species of Australian lungfish, but now there is only one remaining species found in a fairly restricted range of southern Queensland.

Unique Breathing apparatus

The Ceratodontiform Australian Lungfish is known for its ability to breath out of the water using a type of modified vascular swim bladder refereed to as a lung.  The Australian lungfish can survive a few days out of the water breathing air as long as its skin remains wet.  The African species in the order Lepidosireniformes are able to last the dry season out of the water when they build a mucus cocoon. While not as adapted to out of water breathing as the Lepidosireniformes, they also supplement their oxygen demands using their gills.