It's a fish - so what?
Yeah, it's a fish. The Coelacanth was originally discovered in the fossil record. Basically, they knew that the Coelacanths were a group of relatively primitive bony fishes, of the lobe-finned variety. They also believed this particular group had gone extinct millions of years ago, not long after the dinosaurs died out.
Anyway this all changed in 1938 when a fisherman caught a strange fish near East London, South Africa - having no idea what it was. Eventually, a South African museum curator, Marjorie Latimer, worked out the fish was something that'd been (supposedly) been extinct for over 50 million years. It must have come as something of a shock to her - but of course it does mean the species was named after her - Latimeria chalumnae.
These guys are usually found in Comoros, an island group of the East African coast, but are also relatively common on the coast of Mozambique. They also show up on occasion in South Africa and Madagascar. They're still pretty uncommon creatures, mind you - it's not like you can just show up in Moroni (capital of Comoros) and find them - they live _deep_ underwater and are shy. With only one population known, and no fossil record for 50 million years, they're considered living fossils. It's worth mentioning that a second living species has also been discovered in Indonesia.
What does this have to do with Skalor? Like I said, I like the fact they chose a fish with such an interesting story - it gives Skalor a coolness all his own.
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