On Jan, 18, 2021, researchers in Konstanz, Wurzburg, Hamburg and Vienna, led by evolutionary biologist Professor Axel Meyer announced they had succeeded in fully sequencing the genome of the Australian lungfish. The genome, with a total size of more than 43 billion DNA building blocks, is nearly 14 times larger than that of humans and the largest animal genome sequenced to-date.

Its analysis provided valuable insights into the genetic and developmental evolutionary innovations that made it possible for fish to colonize land. The findings were published in the journal Nature.