Extinct for 66 Million Years, Rediscovered Alive in 1938

A large predator which roamed the oceans for more than 300 million years was thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago along with the non-avian dinosaurs. Yet, in 1938, a fisherman accidentally caught one of these predators, leading to a discovery that thousands of these fish still exist. What I am referring to is the lobe finned fish known as a Coelacanth, which is thought to be a sort of "living fossil".

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Sources/Citations:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey
[2] Fraser, Michael & Henderson, Bruce & Carstens, Pieter & Fraser, Alan & Henderson, Benjamin & Dukes, Marc & Bruton, Michael. (2020). Live coelacanth discovered off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa. South African Journal of Science. 116. 10.17159/sajs.2020/7806., CC BY 4.0
[3] Smith, J. L. B. (1956). Old Fourlegs: the Story of the Coelacanth. Longmans Green. p. 24.

0:00 Not so Extinct Species?
1:01 Coelacanth
2:45 Current Range
4:03 Timeline
4:30 Surviving Species

[stevejohnson]

I love this story. It shows the value of ecological refuges and the value of looking at what you find rather than looking for what you expect.

[icollectstories]

What is really striking about the coelacanth (and other lobe-finned fish) is that their skeletons are distinct from those of "normal" ray-finned fish.

[bordurakhan]

Love that you’re branching out a bit with video content. Keep up the amazing work!

[ozne_]

Maybe not as glamorous, but much more recent is the discovery of the Wollemi pine in 1994 in the Blue Mountains, basically Sydney. It's often referred to as a "living fossile" with links to pollen from the late Cretaceous and a close relative from early Eocene.

[sunspot]

One of the great natural history stories. You should tell the more-recent story of the Wollemi pine in Australia, which was thought to have been extinct for at least a couple million years until...

[Baldevi]

I loved this story, I've always been fascinated by the Coelacanth, and its apparently miraculous survival to this day after seeming to disappear so long ago. Great coverage, I was really engaged from start to finish!

[yomogami]

thanks for the information on coelachanths and a good explanation why their fossils disappeared

[Amalgamotion]

I loved the twist in the beginning there, because it's something I've always fantasized about. Stumbling upon a forgotten mountain valley or a region of jungle once completely inaccessible. And what you might find, maybe not full on dinosaurs but once thought extinct plants and animals. I'd forgotten about this odd fish truly a testament to perseverance.

[scillyautomatic]

I've always loved this story. It always gives me how that more "extinct" creatures will be found.

[timmccarthy]

If I saw a group of dinosaurs walk around, I'd just grab my Field Guide to Birds and identify them. I'm looking at a group of dinosaurs outside my window right now!

[ThatOpalGuy]

I remember first learning about these creatures when I was about 12 years old. quite interesting. thanks for making this video

[xwiick]

Thanks for all of your hard work dude!

[angelachouinard]

Always loved this fish. A reminder to stay open minded if ever there was one. Thanks for this.

[katherineweber]

I remember reading about this discovery in National Geographic when I was a kid. I didn't realized they found it in the 1930s. I thought it was found in the 1950s which is when I read about it so this is very interesting to me.

Thank you!

[bobw]

And here I expected it to be about an extinct volcano that reactivated! Interesting topic just the same.

[greggollaher]

I like the steady diet of volcanology, because it's interesting and because it isn't my strong suit, but this is interesting too, in particular the relationships between mass extinctions and geologic cataclysms.

Also, if its something you are familiar with, a walk through clay mineralogy and the usefulness of and the foundation effects of different clay minerals in soil would be interesting.

Keep up the good work, I really like your content.

[Sigil_Firebrand]

The Coelacanth also serves as the basis for one of my favourite pokemon, Relicanth.

[zackakai]

I really hate the way coelacanths get presented as if they haven't evolved at all in hundreds of millions of years. Go pick a random species of coelacanth from the Paleozoic, one from the Mesozoic, and one from today. You'd be able to tell they were from the same lineage, but you'd also see quite a few differences as well.

[MeargleSchmeargle]

You should 10/10 do more paleontology-related videos, I love em.

[jeronimofrancia]

Wow really goes to show the world has still a lot of surprises