The Queensland lungfish, "Neoceratodus forsteri", is endemic to Australia. Fossil records of this group date back 380 million years, around the time when the higher vertebrate classes were beginning to evolve. Fossils of lungfish belonging to the genus "Neoceratodus" have been uncovered in northern New South Wales, indicating that the Queensland lungfish has existed in Australia for at least 100 million years, making it a living fossil and one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet. It is the most primitive surviving member of the ancient air-breathing lungfish (Dipnoi) lineages. The five other freshwater lungfish species, four in Africa and one in South America, are very different morphologically to "N. forsteri". The Queensland lungfish can live for several days out of the water if it is kept moist, but will not survive total water depletion, unlike its African counterparts.