#lepidosiren

This odd fish has 30 times as much DNA as humans—a new record for animals

Lacking key genes that control selfish bits of DNA, the South American lungfish’s genome just grew and grew.

A species of lungfish found in South America has claimed the title of the animal with the biggest genome sequenced so far. The DNA of Lepidosiren paradoxa comprises a staggering 91 billion chemical letters or “bases,” 30 times as many as the human genome, researchers report today in Nature. However, those 91 billion bases of DNA only contain about the same number of genes that humans have—roughly 20,000—with the rest consisting of noncoding, perhaps even “junk” DNA. By comparing this genome with those of other lungfishes, the researchers determined that L. paradoxa adds the equivalent of a human genome to its DNA every 10 million years...

Largest animal genome sequenced — and just 1 chromosome is the size of the entire human genome

Scientists sequenced the largest known animal genome in a species of lungfish — ancient fish that breathe air.

Scientists have sequenced the largest known animal genome — and it's 30 times bigger than the human genome. The genome belongs to the South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa), a primeval, air-breathing fish that "hops" onto land from the water using weird, limb-like fins. The fish's DNA code expanded dramatically over the past 100 million years of evolutionary history, racking up the equivalent of one human genome every 10 million years, researchers found. The findings could shed light on how genomes expand across the tree of life...

Lepidosiren paradoxa