Dipnoi

Lungfish, also known as dipnoans, are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the class Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for their innovative respiratory system, including the ability to breathe air, and derived structures within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed internal skeleton. Lungfish represent the closest living relatives of the tetrapods. The mouths of lungfish typically bear tooth plates, which are used to crush hard shelled organisms.

Dipnoi

Mitch Ames · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
lungfishPBDB
Sits inside
DipnomorphaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
lagoonal,marine,brackish,freshwaterPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 438 million years on record.

The record covers at least 438.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 443.1 Mya to 0 Mya.

Ordovician — about 0 of 830 occurrencesSilurian — about 3 of 830 occurrencesDevonian — about 186 of 830 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 35 of 830 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 47 of 830 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 25 of 830 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 23 of 830 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 122 of 830 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 4 of 830 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 14 of 830 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 51 of 830 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 70 of 830 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 123 of 830 occurrencesPaleocene — about 5 of 830 occurrencesEocene — about 13 of 830 occurrencesOligocene — about 29 of 830 occurrencesMiocene — about 43 of 830 occurrencesPliocene — about 16 of 830 occurrencesPleistocene — about 20 of 830 occurrences452–437 Mya — about 1 occurrence437–422 Mya — about 2 occurrences422–407 Mya — about 17 occurrences407–392 Mya — about 24 occurrences392–377 Mya — about 88 occurrences377–362 Mya — about 49 occurrences362–347 Mya — about 16 occurrences347–331 Mya — about 4 occurrences331–316 Mya — about 8 occurrences316–301 Mya — about 12 occurrences301–286 Mya — about 22 occurrences286–271 Mya — about 21 occurrences271–256 Mya — about 6 occurrences256–241 Mya — about 41 occurrences241–226 Mya — about 29 occurrences226–211 Mya — about 58 occurrences211–196 Mya — about 45 occurrences196–181 Mya — about 2 occurrences181–166 Mya — about 7 occurrences166–151 Mya — about 21 occurrences151–136 Mya — about 47 occurrences136–121 Mya — about 13 occurrences121–105 Mya — about 38 occurrences105–90 Mya — about 62 occurrences90–75 Mya — about 25 occurrences75–60 Mya — about 47 occurrences60–45 Mya — about 11 occurrences45–30 Mya — about 9 occurrences30–15 Mya — about 34 occurrences15–0 Mya — about 72 occurrences438.6 Mya11.7 ka452 Mya0 Mya

830 occurrences of Dipnoi on record, most of them in the Devonian. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

830 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

292 formations

Chinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 35.05°N, 109.83°WChinle — 37.80°N, 110.33°WChinle — 35.09°N, 109.80°WChinle — 34.94°N, 109.77°WChinle — 34.51°N, 109.36°WChinle — 34.83°N, 109.81°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WChinle — 35.38°N, 109.40°WChinle — 34.92°N, 109.91°WChinle — 34.94°N, 109.74°WChinle — 34.73°N, 109.67°WChinle — 35.56°N, 106.82°WChinle — 34.90°N, 107.73°WChinle — 34.50°N, 109.32°WMorrison — 38.54°N, 105.22°WMorrison — 41.89°N, 106.00°WMorrison — 44.65°N, 107.82°WMorrison — 38.58°N, 108.40°WMorrison — 41.88°N, 105.89°WMorrison — 44.46°N, 104.73°WMorrison — 36.92°N, 102.98°WMorrison — 41.98°N, 106.15°WMorrison — 39.68°N, 105.19°WMorrison — 38.45°N, 105.40°WMorrison — 40.30°N, 108.57°WMorrison — 40.27°N, 108.68°WNamba — 31.23°S, 140.23°ENamba — 31.02°S, 140.32°ENamba — 31.11°S, 140.14°ELa Colonia — 43.01°S, 67.62°WLa Colonia — 42.96°S, 67.54°WLa Colonia — 43.12°S, 67.70°WKoobi Fora — 4.26°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.29°N, 36.23°EKoobi Fora — 3.77°N, 36.44°EKoobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°ECloverly — 44.96°N, 108.30°WCloverly — 45.42°N, 108.18°WCloverly — 45.26°N, 108.41°WCloverly — 44.51°N, 107.90°WCloverly — 44.50°N, 107.82°WCloverly — 45.19°N, 108.80°WCloverly — 45.80°N, 109.80°WCloverly — 45.53°N, 108.74°WCloverly — 45.10°N, 106.90°WGogo — 18.30°S, 126.50°EGogo — 19.06°S, 125.60°EGogo — 18.57°S, 125.95°EGogo — 18.16°S, 124.30°EGriman Creek — 29.45°S, 147.97°EGriman Creek — 29.45°S, 147.78°EGriman Creek — 29.45°S, 147.76°EGriman Creek — 29.40°S, 147.91°EVillavieja — 3.24°N, 75.17°WVillavieja — 3.26°N, 75.19°WVillavieja — 3.23°N, 75.14°WLa Victoria — 3.30°N, 75.14°WLa Victoria — 3.24°N, 75.13°WLa Victoria — 3.31°N, 75.17°W"Wonthaggi" — 38.67°S, 145.68°E"Wonthaggi" — 38.53°S, 145.37°EContinental Intercalaire — 28.53°N, 9.05°EContinental Intercalaire — 32.72°N, 0.83°EContinental Intercalaire — 28.15°N, 8.18°EContinental Intercalaire — 28.50°N, 9.57°EContinental Intercalaire — 28.40°N, 7.82°EContinental Intercalaire — 21.63°N, 1.98°EDonguz — 51.55°N, 55.36°EDonguz — 52.53°N, 53.50°EDonguz — 51.46°N, 55.18°EDonguz — 51.36°N, 55.31°EEskridge — 40.14°N, 95.88°WVale — 33.70°N, 99.60°WVale — 33.78°N, 99.47°WVale — 32.13°N, 99.75°WWestbury — 51.60°N, 2.63°WWestbury — 51.82°N, 2.41°WBallagan — 55.79°N, 2.20°WBallagan — 55.26°N, 2.78°WBallagan — 55.43°N, 4.70°WBallagan — 55.95°N, 1.72°WBallagan — 55.84°N, 2.07°WBallagan — 55.90°N, 2.14°WPozo — 6.57°S, 76.27°WOberer Plattenkalk — 50.99°N, 7.15°ETurgenevo — 52.90°N, 36.03°EWadi Milk — 16.70°N, 31.14°EKsar Metlili — 32.70°N, 3.22°WExter — 48.56°N, 9.07°EExter — 48.55°N, 9.07°EExter — 51.57°N, 9.05°EWembere-Manonga — 3.87°S, 33.72°EWembere-Manonga — 3.92°S, 33.88°EWembere-Manonga — 4.03°S, 33.77°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Dipnoi has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 268 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 86 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dipnoi and its relatives

Devonian

Where Dipnoi and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

2,246 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 660 sites for Dipnoi, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

431 references

Each of the 830 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 419 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Dipnoi

Credit
Mitch Ames
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Dipnoi sp. · dpc:IGM 184734

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDipnomorpha through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Müller 1884)