The fossil record of coelacanths is patchy, with very few taxa known from the Triassic of Asia. We report here two new
genera and species of coelacanths from the Luoping Biota, a recently found site of exceptional fossil preservation from
Yunnan, South China. The first new taxon, Luopingcoelacanthus eurylacrimalis, is based on four specimens, which to−
gether show most aspects of the anatomy. One specimen shows two small coelacanths inside the ventral portion of the ab−
dominal cavity, and these are interpreted as intrauterine embryos, close to birth size, based on comparisons with previ−
ously reported embryos of the fossil coelacanths Rhabdoderma and Undina, and the extant genus Latimeria. Our new find
extends the evidence for ovoviviparity in coelacanths back from the Late Jurassic to the Middle Triassic. The second new
taxon, Yunnancoelacanthus acrotuberculatus, is based on one specimen, and differs from Luopingcoelacanthus in the
dentary, lachrymojugal, number of rays of the first dorsal fin, and especially in the ornament on dermal bones and scales.
Acladistic analysis shows that the new taxa are closest relatives to the derived clade Latimerioidei. The relatively high di−
versity of coelacanths in the Early Triassic, and adaptations of living Latimeria to low−oxygen conditions, suggests that
the group may have included ‘disaster taxa’ that benefited from anoxic and dysoxic ocean conditions in the aftermath of
the end−Permian mass extinction.
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