An historical overview of the literature of dipnoi: Introduction to the bibliography of lungfishes

The 2,200 citations of a bibliography of literature on the dipnoan fishes provide an overview of 150 years of work on lungfishes. Starting with Agassiz's volumes on fossil fishes in the 1830s and extending to papers from 1985, one can document the debate on the systematic position of dipnoans, the successive areas of research interest, and the continuing use of lungfish for comparative and evolutionary studies. The papers from 1837–1860 trace the misidentification and confusion surrounding the early discovery and description of Ceratodus, Lepidosiren , and Protopterus , centering on the uncertainty about whether to place the living genera among the fishes or the amphibians. The papers of the latter half of the 19th century show the influence of evolutionary theory, of the discovery of Neoceratodus , and of interest in embyrology. The trends in the 20th century reflect those of the larger scientific community. The listing will thus be useful both to the historian and to the active research scientist.