A fossil hunter has been honored with the most coveted award among nature lovers: he has a species new to science that bears his name. Steve Edwards is also a safari guide in northern Zimbabwe, where he found the fossil of a strange fish that lived when dinosaurs were just emerging, about 210 million years ago.

The fossil belongs to a new species and was named Ferganoceratodus edwardsi to commemorate the efforts of Edwards, who also has in his portfolio of fossil finds a phytosaur and a new dinosaur, a type of lungfish, a group of animals that have survived for 420 million years – they can still be seen alive today.

Lungfish, as their name suggests, are characterized by their strange way of breathing. Like many fish, they have a swim bladder. Unusually, as they get older, this develops into a kind of adapted lung that allows them to breathe outside of the water.

This ability came in handy when these fish decided to pull themselves onto land and eventually became tetrapods: the four-footed animals that include all vertebrates taller than fish. This means they hold many secrets when it comes to understanding the innovations associated with landing, which is why scientists were so excited when they decoded their massive genome in 2021.

These early innovations include the lungfish’s unusual ability to sleep despite the heat by hiding in a burrow encased in a slime cocoon, leaving just enough room for its mouth to breathe while going without food and water for up to four years.

It is an astonishing behavior and one of the many peculiarities of lungfish that scientists are keen to learn more about. Therefore, the discovery of a new species of lungfish is always a remarkable fossil find that enriches ichthyological collections.

In the case of Ferganoceratodus edwardsiit’s a reminder that you don’t have to be a full-time paleontologist to make a discovery that changes natural history.

“Steve is a major force in paleontology, having discovered several Upper Triassic sites in southern Africa,” study co-author Prof. Paul Barrett told the Natural History Museum in London, where he is a renowned geoscience researcher.

“This is a time in history when the dinosaurs began to rise and bony fishes diversified. By sharing his discoveries with us, Steve helps us better understand this important moment in evolution.”

The study was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.