The coelacanth was rediscovered alive in 1938 after being thought extinct.
Scientists had known coelacanths only from fossils and believed the lineage had disappeared about 66 million years ago. In December 1938, museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer recognized an unusual fish caught near the Chalumna River in South Africa. The specimen was identified as a living coelacanth by ichthyologist J. L. B. Smith.
A second living species was found near the Comoros Islands in 1952. Later research showed that coelacanths survive in deep, rocky marine habitats, where their lobed fins move in a distinctive alternating pattern. Their anatomy preserves several features associated with ancient lobe-finned fishes.
The rediscovery did not make the species an unchanged “living fossil.” Coelacanths have continued evolving, just as all living organisms do. The term instead highlights their close resemblance to ancient fossil relatives and the long gap in the fossil record.