EXISTING GROUP. 
AUSTRALIAN LUNG-FISH (} liat. 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 of the year in 
cocoons. The female lays her rather large eggs loosely and singly among the 
vegetation, and in the embryo the fore-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 fish presents marked resemblances to the Amphibians, and also 
to the lampreys; but it is noteworthy that there is no 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 is confined to the 
middle portion of the Burnett and Mary Rivers of Queensland. Living among the 
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 
