ANDRZEJ KRAUZE
Several years ago, ichthyologist Eric Parmentier met a French marine biologist and filmmaker, Laurent Ballesta, who was organizing an expedition to South Africa to produce a documentary film on the coelacanth. This ancient fish—one whose fossil record dates back at least 350 million years—has an almost mythical legacy. Although it was widely assumed to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, a live specimen was found in 1938, and scientists have identified two extant species of coelacanth. Both species move in a peculiar way, waggling four lobe-like fins in an alternating pattern, as we do our arms and legs. Their anatomy is also unusual: a tiny brain, a joint at the back of the head that allows the animal to open its jaws widely, and ...
