Prior to the description of "Kenichthys’" nasal passages, exactly how the transition between these two forms had taken place was a source of debate. Various suggestions had been put forward including that the choana was homologous to either the posterior or anterior nostril of non-tetrapods, that it had ‘budded off’ from one of these passages, or that it was an entirely novel form, unrelated to either of the other nostrils. The debate was further complicated by the fact that lungfishes, another group of sarcopterygian fish, also possess a choana with a different form to that of tetrapodomorphs.