Coelacanth phylogeny 2025
Outgroups should be recovered by your wide gamut cladogram,
not selected = cherry-picked according to tradition, prior publication, etc.
Keep that in mind in this short review of a new coelacanth phylogeny paper.
Figure 1. From Ferrante and Cavin 2025 showing the left face of several coelacanths and their identity of the postorbital relative to the cranial suture separating the frontals from the parietals. A repair is added here to frame 2.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-93192″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif” alt=”Figure 1. From Ferrante and Cavin 2025 showing the left face of several coelacanths and their identity of the postorbital relative to the cranial suture separating the frontals from the parietals. A repair is added here to frame 2.” width=”584″ height=”395″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif?w=584&h=395 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif?w=150&h=102 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif?w=300&h=203 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/postorbital.coelcanaths588.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. From Ferrante and Cavin 2025 showing the left face of several coelacanths and their identity of the postorbital relative to the cranial suture separating the frontals from the parietals. This is instructive! Similar to DGS. A minor repair is added here to frame 2.
This otherwise excellent study
(Ferrante and Cavin 2025, Fig 1) of coelacanth phylogeny revised a previously published data matrix including 30 genera of coelacanths and two outgroups. The authors reported that Forey 1998 used two outgroups, the Actinopterygii and Porolepiformes.
To their credit the authors wrote,
“Because the actinopterygians are not relevant as an outgroup and because the Porolepiformes represent a mixture of different taxa, we did not use these taxa as outgroups in our cladistic analyses.”
Then they made a mistake based on taxon exclusion.
Ferrante and Cavin incorrectly – but traditionally assumed all lobefins were related. Therefore they cherry-picked fanged Onychodus, which nests basal to Rhipidistia (= Dipnoi + Tetrapodomorpha) in the LRT, far from coelacanths (Figs 1, 2, 4) which arise from Robustichthys and Parasemionotus in the LRT (subset Fig 4).
The assumption that lobefin fish are all related was earlier falsified with the simple addition of more taxa.
The traditional clade Sarcopterygii, is no longer monophyletic = invalid.
Think of this simple fact:
Coelacanths are deep-sea fish with taller than wide bodies. Many have little to no lobes in their lateral fins, but do have lobes in their dorsal and ventral fins. As deep water dwellers, coelacanths have no reason to, nor ability to, nor do they ever intend to breathe air. By contrast, tetrapodomorphs are shallow water fish with wider than tall bodies, better suited to their ultimate ventures onto land – and they breathe air.
We also have an overlooked series of pre-coelacanths in the fossil record (Fig 2).
Not sure why the LRT was the first cladogram to recover this deep time split. Fish paleontologists left this phylogenetic vacuum due to taxon exclusion.
Figure 2. Actinistia origins and phylogeny. The outgroup here is Parasemionotus and basal taxa are not lobefins.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/actinistia_phylogeny588-3.jpg?w=53″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/actinistia_phylogeny588-3.jpg?w=182″ class=”size-full wp-image-84437″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/actinistia_phylogeny588-3.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Actinistia origins and phylogeny. The outgroup here is Parasemionotus and basal taxa are not lobefins.” width=”584″ height=”3289″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/actinistia_phylogeny588-3.jpg?w=584&h=3289 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/actinistia_phylogeny588-3.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Actinistia origins and phylogeny. The outgroup here is Parasemionotus and basal taxa are not lobefins. From 2024.
The two competing cladograms don’t match up
(Figs 3, 4). Perhaps that is so because their outgroups are different, perhaps because the ingroups are more numerous (Fig 3), or for other reasons unknown at present.
Figure 3. Cladogram of coelacanths from Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 4.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg?w=114″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg?w=390″ class=”size-full wp-image-93195″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. Cladogram of coelacanths from Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 4.” width=”584″ height=”1534″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg?w=584&h=1534 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg?w=57&h=150 57w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg?w=114&h=300 114w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ferrante-cavin2025-588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. Cladogram of coelacanths from Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 4. Black squares are unrelated rhipdistians in the LRT.
The purpose of the LRT
is to test a wide gamut of taxa to minimize taxon exclusion. The Ferrante and Cavin study purpose was to lump and separate known coelacanth taxa, making it a more focused study.
Focused studies
should be based on broader cladograms like the LRT in order to avoid choosing = cherry picking unrelated, but academically acceptable outgroup taxa. Let your own broader study recover outgroups for your more focused studies. Don’t leave this to interested amateurs.
Figure 4. Subset of the LRT focusing on coelacanths (blue) and their relatives, not tested by Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 3.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg?w=159″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg?w=543″ class=”size-full wp-image-93197″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg” alt=”Figure 4. Subset of the LRT focusing on coelacanths (blue) and their relatives, not tested by Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 3.” width=”584″ height=”1100″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg?w=584&h=1100 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg?w=80&h=150 80w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg?w=159&h=300 159w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coelacanths_lrt588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 4. Subset of the LRT focusing on coelacanths (blue) and their relatives, not tested by Ferrante and Cavin 2025. Compare to figure 3.
Editor note to those readers whose comments don’t get published.
This is how you present evidence. One hypothesis vs another and the reasons + data for that evidence. Follow this pattern in your comments. Avoid emotion, hyperbole, tradition and ad hominem remarks. In other words, don’t be a whiner. Focus on the taxa.
This is the scientific method. Experimentation. Presentation. Revision.
References
Ferrante C and Cavin L 2025. A deep dive into the coelacanth phylogeny.
Forey PL 1998. History of the Coelacanth Fishes. London: Chapman and Hall; 1998. PLoS One 20(6): e0320214.
wiki/Coelacanth
wiki/Sarcopterygii
wiki/Rhipidistia
wiki/Tetrapodomorpha
wiki/Osteolepiformes
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/coelacanth-phylogeny-2025/
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