Sarcopterygii

The Sarcopterygii subclass, also known as the Lobe-Finned vertebrates, are a subclass in the class Osteichtyes . These builds specced into fleshy fins, unlike their sister lineage, the Actinopterygii subclass, who are known for their ray fins. This subclass would give rise to the land vertebrates known as tetrapods. This subclass includes Coelacanths, the six species of Lungfish, and several extinct groups.

## History

### In the beginning

The first lobe-finned fish builds appeared during the Siluran expansion. For a long time, data miners thought that jawed fish mains could not get high-tier during the Siluran. That was before the discovery of the Megamastax build. Like the hybodonts mentioned above,this build had differentiated teeth, allowing them to deal with other players who used different strategies.

### The buzzsaw... bony fish? (Onychodus)

During The Devonian Expansion, a lobe-finned fish main was playable. Sister group to the Coelacanth builds, these builds were the onychodonts. They used their strong bite force and buzzsaw teeth to ambush other players hiding in coral reefs., much like the current meta Moray Eels. Like the placoderms, they were banned during the Devonian-Carboniferous balance patch.

### The race to land

Along with fishes in the sea, something is happening on land. It used to start with Eusthenopteron, but this theory was debunked. Instead, it started out with Pandericthys, who paved the way for the conquest of terrestrial servers with their eyes placed on top. The lobe-finned then progressed into land from this build, then Tiktaalik, Ventastega, Acanthostega, Icthyostega, Pederpes, then returning to the water one last time for Crassigyrinus, before finally entering the terrestrial server through the Amphibians (Which are the first tetrapods and includes the Temnospondyls).

(The conquest continues, see Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals).

### Other river monsters

Other than Tetrapods and Onychodonts, other interesting lobe-finned fish builds are also present. Laccognathus was a build that specced into a similar playstyle to current meta's Angel Shark. Tristicopterids, like Eusthenopteron and Hyneria, played much like Pikes/Muskellunge. After the Devonian-Carboniferous balance patches that nerfed many builds, like Placoderms and acanthodians, to oblivion, another river monster would hail from the lobe-finned class, the Rhizodus. It was easily broken in its own meta and could use the terrestrial server to attack the new Amphibian guild, much like the Snakehead of today. It was also one of the largest freshwater fish mains, rivalling our meta's Sturgeon.

### The return of the big fishes

After the Carboniferous, the lobe-finned fishes are most likely forgotten, with the exception of the tetrapods. Durring the Mesozoic, builds like Rebellatrix (a high-Mobility build) and Foreyia (A Parrotfish analogue) also appeared. The Cretacous meta marked the return of the giant lobe-finned fish mains, through builds like Neoceratodus Africanus and Mawsonia. However, due to the already-established tetrapod mains, they both only managed to cap out at B-tier.

### The present meta.

Today, other than the 30,000+ playable Tetrapod builds, the class is only represented by 8 builds, on par with the Holostean guild. The Coelacanth mains play on The Abyss server, while the 5 Lungfish builds are playable in freshwater servers around the South America, Africa and Australian servers.

## Notable Builds

### Coelacanth

B-tier. A deepsea Fish build that speccs into thick armor, tasting disgusting, and an intracranial jaw to successfully sustain a build that could be used for many updates to come without constantly spending Evolution Points on counters.

### Lepidosirenid-style Lungfish

C-tier. A Glass Cannon with the ability to aestivate.

### Neoceratodus forsteri

B-tier. An Australian Lungfish build that trades the ability to aestivate for better stats.

## Gallery

A creepy-looking Coelacanth build facing front.The Tiktaalik build, which is the progenitor of all terrestrial vertebrate mains in the current meta.The giant Mawsonia compared to a Human main.User:Andikito123's drawing for the Sarcopterygii faction!
## Referrences

1. ↑ https://www.accessscience.com/content/sarcopterygii/601800
2. ↑ https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/class/7
3. ↑ https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/fishtree\_09
4. ↑ https://untamedscience.com/class/sarcopterygii/
5. ↑ https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/sarco/sarcopterygii.html
6. ↑ https://eol.org/pages/8909/articles
7. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/megamastax.html
8. ↑ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25718-first-predator-fish-crushed-armoured-prey-in-its-jaws/
9. ↑ https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600154
10. ↑ https://europepmc.org/article/med/19515665
11. ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/34722666246
12. ↑ https://austhrutime.com/onychodontiforms.htm
13. ↑ http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon\_no=227396
14. ↑ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03198-8
15. ↑ https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jpaleontol/article-abstract/81/1/143/139636/A-MICROANATOMICAL-AND-HISTOLOGICAL-STUDY-OF-THE?redirectedFrom=fulltext
16. ↑ https://theconversation.com/the-eyes-have-it-how-vision-may-have-driven-fishes-onto-land-73060
17. ↑ https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms\_04
18. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2011/09/nunavuts-big-bad-fossil-fish/
19. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/4524245
20. ↑ https://www.anspblog.org/hyneria-lindae-part-1/
21. ↑ https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Rhizodus
22. ↑ https://tipsmake.com/rhizodus-hibberti-horror-monster-of-the-carbon-era
23. ↑ https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna47269181
24. ↑ https://a-dinosaur-a-day.com/post/190815619620/foreyia-maxkuhni
25. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/4523675
26. ↑ http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon\_no=68074
27. ↑ http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/coelacanth.html
28. ↑ http://king-animal.blogspot.com/2013/04/coelacanth.html#.YQZdjWTQF0s
29. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2015/03/creature-feature-10-fun-facts-coelacanth/
30. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215003292
31. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/fish-once-labeled-living-fossil-surprises-scientists-again-2021-06-18/
32. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977174/
33. ↑ https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/australian-lungfish-neoceratodus-forsteri-krefft-1870/
34. ↑ https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/animals/vertebrate-zoology/lungfish