Coelacanths, Living Fossils of the Sea

The Coelacanth, Living Fossil of the Sea | Deep Sea Wonders Once known only from fossils, the coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct around 65 million years ago in the late cretaceous, during the great extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. Fossils of these creatures dated from 80 to 360 million years ago, and yet in 1938, one was found off the coast of South Africa alive. A fish almost entirely unchanged since the days of dinosaurs. This discovery therefore represents one of the most significant natural history discoveries of recent times.