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title: "What the sources say about the Australian Lungfish | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "48 claims from the Australian Lungfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Australian Lungfish (*Neoceratodus forsteri*)

> 48 claims from the Australian Lungfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Australian Lungfish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/australian-lungfish/)

## Brooks et al. (2019). Neoceratodus forsteri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T122899816A123382021.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-3.rlts.t122899816a123382021.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Endangered | IUCN Red List category: Endangered (EN). |

## Meyer et al. (2021). Giant lungfish genome elucidates the conquest of land by vertebrates. Nature.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03198-8

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a genome known to be the largest of any animal | which is known to have the largest genome of any animal |
| a body that still resembles fossils over 100 million years old | >100-million-year-old fossils from Australia strongly resemble the surviving species |
| The Australian lungfish is known to have the largest genome of any animal. | which is known to have the largest genome of any animal |
| pieced together 37 billion base pairs | This yielded a 37-Gb assembly (note: 37 Gb is the assembly; the paper's k-mer estimate of the whole genome is 43 Gb, so the page says "pieced together" rather than giving 37 as the genome size. Gb = billion base pairs.) |
| the whole genome is about 14 times larger than a human's | The vast size of this genome, which is about 14× larger than that of humans |
| A standard scan marked about two-thirds of it as repetitive DNA, the highest share the team knew of in any animal genome | We performed standard repeat-masking procedures on the 37-Gb genome assembly, which identified 67.3% (24.65 Gb) as repetitive (Fig. 3a , Supplementary Table 4 ). To our knowledge, this is the highest repetitive DNA content in a genome found in the animal kingdom. (note: 67.3% rounded to about two-thirds; a second pass found more repeats, so the sentence names the standard scan the ranking refers to) |
| the genome is still growing, with its transposable elements, DNA sequences that copy themselves, still active | The lungfish genome continues to expand independently (its transposable elements are still active) (note: 'DNA sequences that copy themselves' is a gloss of 'transposable elements') |
| the group that includes humans | ultimately gave rise to all land vertebrates, including humans |
| The 2021 genome study confirmed earlier reports that lungfish are the closest living relatives. | Our phylogenomic analyses confirm previous reports that lungfish occupy a key evolutionary position as the closest living relatives to tetrapods ... Accepted 2021 Jan 6; Issue date 2021. (note: 2021 is the paper's own issue-date metadata) |
| Only six lungfish species survive: four in Africa, one in South America and one, the Australian lungfish, in Australia. | Of the extant lungfish species (of which there are only six), four live in Africa, one in South America and one ( N. forsteri ) in Australia. |
| The South American lungfish and, even more so, the African species have almost completely lost their scales, and their fins have been simplified into thin filaments. | The South American and, in particular, the African lungfish have almost completely lost their scales secondarily and have simplified their fin morphology into thin filaments |
| The Australian lungfish keeps ancestral features such as large scales, paddle-shaped fins and its body shape, so it resembles extinct lungfish much more than the other two lineages do. | Owing to the ancestral characters (such as body shape, large scales and paddle-shaped fins) of N. forsteri , it resembles ‘archetypal’ extinct lungfish much more than the two other lineages of extant lungfish. |
| Fossils from Australia more than 100 million years old strongly resemble the living species. | >100-million-year-old fossils from Australia strongly resemble the surviving species |
| pieced together 37 billion base pairs | This yielded a 37-Gb assembly (note: 37 Gb is the assembly; the paper's k-mer estimate of the whole genome is 43 Gb, so the page says "pieced together" rather than giving 37 as the genome size. Gb = billion base pairs.) |
| the whole genome is about 14 times larger than a human's | The vast size of this genome, which is about 14× larger than that of humans |
| The researchers traced most of that size to huge stretches of DNA between and inside genes that are packed with repeats. | is attributable mostly to huge intergenic regions and introns with high repeat content (around 90%) ... Accepted 2021 Jan 6; Issue date 2021. (note: 'between and inside genes' glosses 'intergenic regions and introns') |
| A standard scan marked about two-thirds of the genome as repetitive, the highest share the team knew of in any animal | We performed standard repeat-masking procedures on the 37-Gb genome assembly, which identified 67.3% (24.65 Gb) as repetitive (Fig. 3a , Supplementary Table 4 ). To our knowledge, this is the highest repetitive DNA content in a genome found in the animal kingdom. (note: 67.3% rounded to about two-thirds) |
| the genome is still growing, with its transposable elements, DNA sequences that copy themselves, still active | The lungfish genome continues to expand independently (its transposable elements are still active) (note: 'DNA sequences that copy themselves' is a gloss of 'transposable elements') |
| The same study also confirmed earlier reports that lungfish are the closest living relatives of land vertebrates | Our phylogenomic analyses confirm previous reports that lungfish occupy a key evolutionary position as the closest living relatives to tetrapods |
| a question scientists had debated. | Phylogenetic relationships among coelacanths, lungfishes and tetrapods have been debated |

## Meyer & Dolven (1992). Molecules, fossils, and the origin of tetrapods. Journal of Molecular Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00183221

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| By 1992, fossil experts and anatomists had spent more than 50 years debating whether the coelacanth or the lungfish was the closer living relative of land vertebrates | Since the discovery of the coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, more than 50 years ago, paleontologists and comparative morphologists have debated whether coelacanths or lungfishes, two groups of lobe-finned fishes, are the closest living relatives of land vertebrates (Tetrapoda). ... J Mol Evol (1992) (note: dated to the paper's 1992 publication; 'fossil experts and anatomists' paraphrases 'paleontologists and comparative morphologists') |

## Fritsche et al. (1993). Respiratory and cardiovascular responses to hypoxia in the Australian lungfish. Respiration Physiology.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-5687(93)90046-d

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One study found that as oxygen in the water dropped, the fish first breathed faster through its gills, then took more air breaths, and more blood flowed to its lung. | The most prominent response to aquatic hypoxia was an increase in gill breathing frequency followed by an increased number of air breaths together with increased pulmonary blood flow. |
| as oxygen in the water drops, it breathes faster through its gills, then takes more air breaths | The most prominent response to aquatic hypoxia was an increase in gill breathing frequency followed by an increased number of air breaths (note: vibe.reason) |

## Mayne, Espinoza & Roberts (2022). Tell Us a Story Granddad: Age and Origin of an Iconic Australian Lungfish. Frontiers in Environmental Science.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.931467

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One captive fish, Granddad, is estimated to have lived far longer. | the presumed longest-living lungfish known in a zoological park ... We estimated the age of Granddad at death to be 109 years (±6 years) |
| He came to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium from Australia in 1933 and lived there until 2017, and genetic tests later traced his birthplace to the Burnett River. | This lungfish specimen was gifted to the Chicago John G. Shedd Aquarium from Australia in 1933 and lived there for 84 years until death in 2017 ... Genotyping also revealed the natal origin of Granddad to be the Burnett River, Queensland, Australia |
| Scientists ran his DNA through an aging clock built for the species and estimated his age at death at 109 years, give or take 6. | we sourced DNA from “Granddad”, the presumed longest-living lungfish known in a zoological park and utilised an epigenetic ageing clock developed for N. forsteri ... We estimated the age of Granddad at death to be 109 years (±6 years) |
| Granddad came to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium from Australia in 1933 and lived there until 2017, and genetic tests later traced his birthplace to the Burnett River in Queensland. | This lungfish specimen was gifted to the Chicago John G. Shedd Aquarium from Australia in 1933 and lived there for 84 years until death in 2017 ... Genotyping also revealed the natal origin of Granddad to be the Burnett River, Queensland, Australia |
| estimated his age at death at 109 years, give or take 6 | We estimated the age of Granddad at death to be 109 years (±6 years) |
| That estimate ranks the Australian lungfish 12th for maximum age among the 952 fish in the AnAge longevity database. | The revised maximum age estimate for N. forsteri places the species as the 21st oldest living animal, out of 3,761 longevity entries in the AnAge database ... Of the 952 fish (aquatic vertebrates with gills) records in the database, N. forsteri ranks as the 12th oldest living fish species in the world |

## Australian Lungfish. Australian Museum, Animal factsheets, 2020.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/australian-lungfish-neoceratodus-forsteri-krefft-1870/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| An air-breathing fish with a single lung | the Australian Lungfish has the unqiue ability to breathe air using a single lung |
| A single lung for breathing air when streams turn stagnant | The Australian Lungfish has a single lung, whereas all other species of lungfishes have paired lungs. During dry periods when streams become stagnant, or when water quality changes, lungfishes have the ability to surface and breathe air |
| Still and slow-flowing pools of the Burnett and Mary River systems in southeastern Queensland, plus rivers and reservoirs where it has been introduced | The Australian Lungfish is normally found in still or slow flowing pools in river systems of south-eastern Queensland ... It occurs naturally in the Burnett and Mary River systems although has been introduced into other rivers and reservoirs in south-eastern Queensland. |
| Mainly frogs, tadpoles, small fish, snails, shrimp and earthworms, and also plant material | Food items include mainly frogs, tadpoles, small fishes, snails, shrimp and earthworms. It will also eat plant material. |
| Under most conditions the Australian lungfish breathes only through its gills. | Under most conditions, this species breathes exclusively using its gills. |
| It has a single lung, while every other lungfish species has two. | The Australian Lungfish has a single lung, whereas all other species of lungfishes have paired lungs. |
| In dry periods, when streams turn stagnant, or when water quality changes, it can surface and breathe air. | During dry periods when streams become stagnant, or when water quality changes, lungfishes have the ability to surface and breathe air |
| An African lungfish can bury itself in mud and stay dormant for several months inside a hardened mucus cocoon. | The African lungfish Protopterus annectens (see image) is known for its ability to bury in the mud. ... The mucous hardens to form a cocoon in which the fish stays dormant for several months. (note: scoped to one African species as the source is) |
| The Australian lungfish does not bury itself or form a cocoon, and it cannot survive more than a few days out of water. | The Australian Lungfish does not bury in the mud or form a cocoon and cannot survive for more than a few days out of water. |
| It is normally found in still or slow-flowing pools, and occurs naturally in the Burnett and Mary River systems of southeastern Queensland, though it has been introduced into other rivers and reservoirs in the region. | The Australian Lungfish is normally found in still or slow flowing pools in river systems of south-eastern Queensland ... It occurs naturally in the Burnett and Mary River systems although has been introduced into other rivers and reservoirs in south-eastern Queensland. |
| It grows to about 1.5 metres and over 40 kilograms | It grows to about 1.5 m in length and over 40 kg. |
| eats mainly frogs, tadpoles, small fish, snails, shrimp and earthworms, along with plant material | Food items include mainly frogs, tadpoles, small fishes, snails, shrimp and earthworms. It will also eat plant material. |
| The species can live at least 20 to 25 years. | The species can live to at least 20-25 years of age. |
| An African lungfish can bury itself in mud and stay dormant for several months inside a hardened mucus cocoon, and the South American lungfish can survive for months in a chamber of moist mud and mucus. | The African lungfish Protopterus annectens (see image) is known for its ability to bury in the mud. ... The mucous hardens to form a cocoon in which the fish stays dormant for several months. ... It can survive for months in a resting chamber of moist mud and mucous. |
| it cannot survive more than a few days out of water | The Australian Lungfish does not bury in the mud or form a cocoon and cannot survive for more than a few days out of water. |
| Its single lung lets it breathe air when streams turn stagnant in dry periods. | the Australian Lungfish has the unqiue ability to breathe air using a single lung when during dry periods streams become stagnant |
| for a fish that can surface to breathe air | During dry periods when streams become stagnant, or when water quality changes, lungfishes have the ability to surface and breathe air (note: vibe.reason) |

## Neoceratodus forsteri - Australian Lungfish, Queensland Lungfish. Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment.

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=67620

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN lists the species as Endangered, and Australia's national environment law has listed it as Vulnerable since 2003. | EPBC Act Listing Status Listed as Vulnerable (Date effective 06-Aug-2003) ... IUCN: Listed as Endangered (Global Status: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: 2026.1 list) (note: SPRAT page accessed 15 Sep 2026) |