Giant ossified lung of a mawsoniid ceolacanth, Upper Maastrichtian of Oued Zem

[TethysaurusUK]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566712100015X?via%3Dihub#sec7

A friend of mine and my current supervisor worked on this paper. I also got to see this specimen in person for a while (thought it was an oddly preserved turtle carapace).

Significantly, the specimen is the youngest mawsoniid and is the only marine mawsoniid from Africa. From morphometric analysis, it is estimated to be between 3.65 m and 5.52 m.

[Halichoeres]

Awfully considerate of coelacanths to ossify their lungs for us to find.

Also a nice reminder that the modern gombessa is pretty different from most fossil coelacanths! Their lungs are almost nonexistent, which makes sense for a fish now restricted to deeper waters.