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'''Living fossil''' is an informal term used by evolutionist scientists to describe plants and animals which were either considered [[extinct]] until living examples are found or which, though never considered extinct, are now the sole or rare examples of species known more abundantly from fossils.

The [[coelacanth]] is a famous considered to be an example of such a living fossilby evolutionists. Coelacanth fossils are abundant, with over 120 species named and known to have lived in a variety of both salt and freshwater environments, but no fossils younger than about 80 million years old have ever been found. With no known living examples, paleontologists assumed that these fish had gone extinct until one was caught off the coast of South Africa in 1938. While they did not go extinct they did become drastically less abundant -- today's coelacanths are rare and live only in deep waters from which fossils are never recovered. It is important to note that though such "living fossils" are often very similar to their ancient relatives they are not the same. The name "Coelacanth," for instance, refers to an ''order'' rather than a ''species'' and the living coelacanth species, ''Latimeria,'' does not occur in the fossil record.

*Platypus