A group of South African shark-hunting fishermen suddenly discovered that a fish that was present on Earth before the time of the dinosaurs is still alive, although many researchers believe it has long been extinct.
“Four-legged fossil fish,” scientific name Latimeria chalumnae, is still alive and well in the waters of the western Indian Ocean off the island nation of Madagascar, according to Mongabay News, a news site specializing in the conservation of the environment.
Previously, the scientific community still believed that the fish had become extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, 66 million years ago. Their fossils show that this species lived in the world’s oceans around 420 million years ago.
In 1938, a single individual of Latimeria chalumnae was suddenly discovered off the coast of South Africa, shocking the entire scientific community. It is identified by features such as 8 fins, an average weight of 80 kg and a length of 2 m.
According to Mongabay News, the recent appearance of the above fish is due to the fact that fishermen have used special fishing gear, which can dredge deep into the seabed from 100 to 150 meters.
Conservation experts warn Latimeria chalumnae could be threatened with extinction as fishing activities, especially fin sharks, increase in international waters off Madagascar.
They call on the global community to make efforts to preserve the fish that have struggled for hundreds of millions of years to survive to this day.
