Abstract
The living coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae Smith, occupies a rare position in the history of the study of vertebrates, being a member of a group recognized on the basis of fossils and only subsequently found to be extant. In this sense then, the self-contradictory term “living fossil” carries a slightly more literal meaning than most other examples in this book. Lungfishes (Dipnoi) were also known as fossils before a Recent example (Lepidosiren) was recognized (Fitzinger 1837), but, in this case, a mere 9 years separated the identification of fossil and Recent representatives. For coelacanths, nearly one-hundred years separates Agassiz’s (1839) naming of the Permian Coelacanthus and the landing of the first specimen of Latimeria late in 1938.
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Forey, P. (1984). The Coelacanth as a Living Fossil. In: Eldredge, N., Stanley, S.M. (eds) Living Fossils. Casebooks in Earth Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_18
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