Lungfish and peripatus, identify these animals and explain why are they called connecting links
Answers
The living animals which possess some characters of two different groups of animal are called connecting link. Peripatus is a primitive arthropod having joined paired legs, compound eyes and tracheas like other arthropods but also displays certain annelidan characteristics, such as worm-like segmented body, non-chitinous cuticle and segmental nephridia.It forms a connecting link between Annelida and Arthropoda and is considered as the living fossil, which regards the animal as zoologically important.
Lungfish have a highly specialized respiratory system. They have a distinct feature that their lungs are connected to the larynx and pharynx without a trachea.The living animals which possess the characteristics of two different groups of animals are known as connecting links. Thus lung fish acts as a connecting link between fish and amphibians. This suggests that in the past, amphibious organisms have developed from fishes.