Changes

'''Coelacanth''' is an order of lobe-finned [[fish]]es related to [[lungfish]]es and represented by two living species, ''Latimeria chalumnae'' and ''Latimeria menadoensis'', as well as numerous [[fossil]]s of [[extinct]] species. Among living Coelacanths, adult females are larger in size than males and the largest recorded specimen of Coelacanth was 178 centimeters in length and weighed 98 kilograms. It is considered to be a critically endangered species and an estimated 1,000 fishes are alive today.<ref name=BBCFFHW>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1331848.stm 'Fossil fish' hits the web] ''BBC News''</ref>  

'''Coelacanth''' is an order of lobe-finned [[fish]]es related to [[lungfish]]es and represented by two living species, ''Latimeria chalumnae'' and ''Latimeria menadoensis'', as well as many [[fossil]]s of [[extinct]] species. Among living Coelacanths, adult females are larger in size than males and the largest recorded specimen of Coelacanth was 178 centimeters in length and weighed 98 kilograms. It is considered to be a critically endangered species and an estimated 1,000 fishes are alive today.<ref name=BBCFFHW>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1331848.stm 'Fossil fish' hits the web] ''BBC News''</ref>  

The fossil record of Coelacanths now extends from the Early [[Devonian]] (410-415 million years ago)<ref name=BL>[http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/d43r823338422164/ Oldest coelacanth, from the Early Devonian of Australia] ''Biology Letters''</ref> to the Late [[Cretaceous]] (about 80 million years ago)<ref name=lc>[http://cretaceousfossils.com/content/view/544/574/ Megalocoelacanthus dobiei]</ref> but the most dramatic discovery occurred in 1938 when [[Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer]], curator of a museum in [[East London]], [[South Africa]], found a curious fish in the catch brought back by a trawler just before Christmas. In February 1939 [[ichthyologist]] [[James Leonard Brierley]] Smith identified the fish as a coelacanth and named it ''Latimeria chalumnae'' after its discoverer and the [[Chalumna River]] where it was caught.  The next specimen of ''Latimeria'' turned up in 1952, and since then many have been both caught and studied live in the wild and a second species ''Latimeria menadoensis'' was discovered in [[Indonesia]] in 1997.

The fossil record of Coelacanths now extends from the Early [[Devonian]] (410-415 million years ago)<ref name=BL>[http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/d43r823338422164/ Oldest coelacanth, from the Early Devonian of Australia] ''Biology Letters''</ref> to the Late [[Cretaceous]] (about 80 million years ago)<ref name=lc>[http://cretaceousfossils.com/content/view/544/574/ Megalocoelacanthus dobiei]</ref> but the most dramatic discovery occurred in 1938 when [[Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer]], curator of a museum in [[East London]], [[South Africa]], found a curious fish in the catch brought back by a trawler just before Christmas. In February 1939 [[ichthyologist]] [[James Leonard Brierley]] Smith identified the fish as a coelacanth and named it ''Latimeria chalumnae'' after its discoverer and the [[Chalumna River]] where it was caught.  The next specimen of ''Latimeria'' turned up in 1952, and since then many have been both caught and studied live in the wild and a second species ''Latimeria menadoensis'' was discovered in [[Indonesia]] in 1997.