Coelacanths became extinct tens of millions of years ago.

Not a fact anymore

Coelacanths became extinct tens of millions of years ago.

What we know now

Living coelacanths survive today in two known species, Latimeria chalumnae and Latimeria menadoensis.

Why it changed

In 1938, museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer recognized an unusual fish caught off South Africa. It was identified as a living coelacanth, a group previously known only from fossils.

Status: Overturned
Category: Biology
Accepted approximately: 19th century to 1938
Changed approximately: 1938–1939

The 1938 discovery did not show that every fossil coelacanth species survived. It showed that the broader coelacanth lineage had living representatives.

Calling the modern species a “living fossil” can be misleading: living coelacanths have continued evolving and are not literally unchanged survivors of a fossil species.

Evidence

Sources and what they establish

Historical context

Coelacanths: The fish that 'outdid' the Loch Ness Monster Natural History Museum, London
Explains that coelacanths were thought extinct for about 70 million years until a living specimen was found in 1938.

Current evidence

Coelacanth Smithsonian Ocean
Overview of living coelacanths, their rediscovery and their modern distribution.