Coelacanths were thought to have become extinct in the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago, but were rediscovered in 1938 off the coast of South Africa.
The coelacanth was long considered a living fossil
because it was believed to be the
sole remaining member of a taxon otherwise known only from fossils, with no close relations alive,
and to have evolved into roughly its current form approximately 400 million years ago.
However, several recent studies have shown that coelacanth body shapes are much more diverse than
previously thought.