# living fossil

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlɪvɪŋ ˈfɒsl̩/

## Definitions
1. Any species discovered first as a fossil and believed extinct, but which is later found living; an organism that has remained unchanged over geological periods.
2. Any living species which very closely resembles fossil relatives in most anatomical details.

## Etymology
The term was coined by the English biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) in his work On the Origin of Species (1859): see the quotation below.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/living-fossil