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RE: Living Fossils: The Coelacanth
Fantastic post! I love the Coelacanth. It seems that it is (even being a bone fish) is somewhat similar to cartilaginous fishes (sharks).
Fantastic post! I love the Coelacanth. It seems that it is (even being a bone fish) is somewhat similar to cartilaginous fishes (sharks).
Coelacanths have tons in common with sharks! Both of them contain high levels of urea (the nitrogen compound found in mammal urine) in their blood, for instance. They do that keep from losing water to osmosis, since the ocean is saltier than their blood. Fish drink tons of water in the ocean, because otherwise they're at huge risk of getting dehydrated via osmosis. Sharks and coelacanths have to drink much less water because of the urea concentrations.
And coelacanth skeletons actually use a lot more cartilage than bone, though they do have both.