Question
A 2024 Nature paper by Schartl et al. attributes the large genomes of these fish to suppression of transposons. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this class of fish whose “South American” and “Marbled” species have the largest known animal genomes. These fish are the closest living relative of tetrapods, with whom they form the Rhipidistia clade, the sister group to the Coelacanths (“SEE-luh-canths”).
ANSWER: lungfish [or Dipnoi; accept salamanderfish or barramunda; prompt on Sarcopterygii or lobe-finned fishes or Osteichthyes or bony fishes] (The genomes of the South American lungfish and Marbled lungfish have 91 and 132 billion base pairs respectively, compared to the human genome’s 3.5 billion base pairs.)
[10e] Lungfish represent an important evolutionary milestone since they have both lungs and these structures, but only the Australian lungfish actually breathes from these organs that uptake oxygen from water.
ANSWER: gills
[10m] Some lungfish perform this behavior by burrowing themselves in mud. Animals enter this type of dormancy, which unlike hibernation happens in the summer, to avoid damage from high temperature or desiccation.
ANSWER: aestivation [or estivation]
<MS, Biology>
Summary
| Lower Mid-Atlantic | 2025-02-01 | Y | 6 | 16.67 | 100% | 50% | 17% |
| Midwest | 2025-02-01 | Y | 6 | 11.67 | 100% | 0% | 17% |
| Northeast | 2025-02-01 | Y | 4 | 17.50 | 100% | 50% | 25% |
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| Pacific Northwest | 2025-02-01 | Y | 2 | 15.00 | 100% | 50% | 0% |
| UK | 2025-02-01 | Y | 10 | 17.00 | 100% | 40% | 30% |
| Upper Mid-Atlantic | 2025-02-01 | Y | 8 | 16.25 | 100% | 50% | 13% |