Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41691076›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

A dual respiratory and auditory function for the coelacanth lung.

Luigi Manuelli, Gaël Clément, Marc Herbin, Bernd Fritzsch, Per E Ahlberg, Kathleen Dollman, Lionel Cavin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Luigi ManuelliDepartment of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Luigi.manuelli@unige.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-0620-4599
Gaël ClémentCentre de Recherche en Paléontologie-Paris (CR2P, MNHN-CNRS-Sorbonne Université), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
Marc HerbinMécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV, MNHN-CNRS-Sorbonne Université) Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
Bernd FritzschDepartment of Neuronal Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4882-8398
Per E AhlbergDepartment of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9054-2900
Kathleen DollmanEuropean Synchrotron and Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.
Lionel CavinDepartment of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9666-5864

Funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Swiss National Science Foundation) 207903
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Since the discovery of Latimeria chalumnae, coelacanths have provided a critical comparative framework for reconstructing ancestral sarcopterygian anatomy. However, the function of several anatomical features in both extant and fossil coelacanths remains unresolved. Among these, the presence of large ossified chambers in the body cavity of fossil coelacanths has remained enigmatic, with different studies proposing respiratory or auditory functions. Here, we examine lung and inner ear anatomy based on new observations from synchrotron phase-contrast microCT scans of two 240-million-year-old latimerioid coelacanths, alongside multiple developmental stages of the extant L. chalumnae. These data, combined with archival histological sections of L. chalumnae and 3D reconstructions of a Devonian coelacanth, suggest that extinct coelacanths possessed an ossified lung capable of transmitting sound pressure to auditory sensory epithelia in the inner ear via a perilymphatic system. We propose that the lung of extinct coelacanths supported both respiratory and auditory functions.

Indexed as

Ear, InnerFishesFossilsHearingLungAnimalsBiological EvolutionX-Ray Microtomography

Identifiers

PMID41691076
PMCPMC13003144

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.