Living fossils
Living fossils
Living fossil is an informal term used for any living species that is apparently identical or closely resembles a species previously known only from fossils—that is, it is as if the ancient fossil had "come to life."
This can be (a) a species or taxon known only from fossils until living representatives were discovered, such as the lobe-finnedcoelacanth, primitive monoplacophoran mollusk, and the Chinese maidenhair tree, or (b) a single living species with no close relatives, such as the New Caledonian Kagu, or the Sunbittern, or (c) a small group of closely related species with no other close relatives, such as the oxygen-producing, primordial stromatolite, inarticulate lampshell Lingula, many-chambered pearly Nautilus, rootless whisk fern, armored horseshoe crab, and dinosaur-liketuatara that are the sole survivors of a once large and widespread groups in the fossil record.