As part of a new study, scientists decided to turn to the largest collection of coelacanth specimens, stored in the Natural History Museum of France. Using the latest microscopic techniques and special technology for analysing scales, they thoroughly studied samples of 27 specimens of these fish. Technology has allowed scientists to estimate an accurate idea of the lifespan of coelacanths, according to ScienceDaily.
"Our new age estimation allowed us to re-appraise the coelacanth's body growth, which happens to be one of the slowest among marine fish of similar size, as well as other life-history traits, showing that the coelacanth's life history is actually one of the slowest of all fish," one of the authors of the work, a leading researcher at the Research Institute of Marine Exploitation Kelig Mahe said, as quoted by ScienceDaily.
The research results were published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
The coelacanths are creatures that have survived hundreds of millions of years without evolutionary changes and resemble their ancient ancestors, attracting the interest of scientists worldwide.