living fossil
an organism that is a living example of an otherwise extinct group and that has remained virtually unchanged in structure and function over a long period of time, as the coelacanth and the horseshoe crab.
Origin of living fossil
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use living fossil in a sentence
Understanding the true life span of these living fossils is essential for assessing the demography of the species, which, in turn, can inform conservation policy.
These ancient deep-sea fish can live five times as long as biologists expected | Sara Kiley Watson | June 25, 2021 | Popular-ScienceWe have therefore, so to speak, a living fossil before us, and it would be of great interest to ascertain its history.
Studies in the Theory of Descent (Volumes 1 and 2) | August WeismannThe interest excited by this living fossil was almost enough to stifle the dread of the creature in the man.
The two drew back as the living fossil raised a short clawed leg.
To the girl, it seemed that the living fossil was endless in length.
British Dictionary definitions for living fossil
an animal or plant, such as the coelacanth and ginkgo, belonging to a group most of whose members are extinct
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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