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Finding the Coelacanths

When Marjorie Courtnay-Latimer found a coelacanth on a fishing boat in South Africa, it was the fish equivalent of discovering a T- Rex on the Serengeti. But what happened next?

The first Coelacanth was discovered by a woman in South Africa in 1938. The find, by the young museum curator, was the fish equivalent of discovering a T- Rex on the Serengeti, it took the Zoological world by storm. Presenter Adam Hart tells the story of this discovery, and the steps taken by Coelacanth biologists in the decades since to find more fish, in other populations, and record them for science. Adam hears personal accounts from a deep diver who swam with Coelacanths, Eve Marshall, conservationist Dr Mark Erdman, and geneticist Professor Axel Meyer.

Picture: 3 Coelacanths at 116 metres depth in Sodwana Bay, South Africa, Credit: Eve Marshall

Producer: Rory Galloway

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Mon 26 Nov 2018 00:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 19 Nov 2018 20:32GMT
  • Mon 19 Nov 2018 21:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 05:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 06:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 07:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 11:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 14:32GMT
  • Tue 20 Nov 2018 18:32GMT
  • Mon 26 Nov 2018 00:32GMT

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