| An ugly fish known as the "living fossil" has made another appearance in the ocean, surprising scientists. Virtually unique in the animal kingdom, with a saga steeped in science and popular imagination, the fabulous Coelacanth ("see-la-kanth"), that 400 million year old "living fossil," rocks on. Pre-dating the dinosaurs by millions of years and once thought to have gone extinct with them 65 million years ago, the Coelacanth was "discovered" alive and well in 1938! A coelacanth has been found in Indonesia -- 7,000 miles (11,200 kilometers) from its only previously known location near Madagascar. The ancestors of the coelacanth (pronounced SEE-la-kanth) date back 400 million years. Until 1938, scientists knew the coelacanth only as a fossilized relic from the dinosaur era. "So in 1938, it was almost a shock when one showed up, that you get this, what's called a living fossil basically, this fish that's known only from the fossil record and here it is, some 80 million years later, you get a live one," Now swimming on your desktop! |
