EXISTING GROUP. 



3 2 7 



while there are a pair of similar teeth in the lower jaw, carrying only six ridges 

 each. In the living species the teeth of opposite sides are separated by an interval : 

 but in the fossil forms they were in contact, and had fewer ridges. The existing 

 Australian lung -fishes, of which two species have been described, are said to 

 attain a weight of 20 lbs., and a length of upwards of 6 feet. The body is 

 elongated and much compressed, with very large scales ; the paddle-shaped limbs 

 have very broad fringes ; and the flesh is salmon-coloured. From the occurrence 

 of masses of leaves in its stomach it is evident that the Australian lung-fish crops 

 the vegetation with its great teeth ; but it is believed that the most important part 

 of its food consists of the small creatures living on and between the leaves of the 



AUSTRALIAN LUNG-FISH (1 nat. size). 



various water-plants. The stories of the fish coming out of the water to the land 

 seem quite unfounded, as are those that it lies dormant during part <*l the year in 

 cocoons. The female lays her rather large eggs loosely and singly among the 

 vegetation, and in the embryo the t'ore-limbs make their appearance in about a 

 fortnight, but the hinder-pair not before two and a half months. In the course of 

 its development this tish. presents marked resemblances to the Amphibians, and also 

 to the lampreys: hut it is noteworthy that there is n<. trace of a sucking mouth 

 or of external gills. As might have been inferred from the study of allied extinct 

 forms, the large palatal teeth are formed by the fusion of a number of separate 

 small teeth. According to Dr. Semon, the Australian lung-fish it confined to the 

 middle portion of the Burnett and Mary Rivers of Queensland. Living among the 



