living fossil
Syllables: liv·ing fos·silUK/ˈlɪvɪŋ ˈfɒsl̩/US/ˈlɪvɪŋ ˈfɑsl̩/
living fossil noun: 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.
Noun
living fossil (plural living fossils)
- 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.
- The coelacanth and the dawn redwood are living fossils.
- [I]n fresh water we find some of the most anomalous forms now known in the world, as the Ornithorhynchus and Lepidosiren, which, like fossils, connect to a certain extent orders now widely separated in the natural scale. These anomalous forms may almost be called living fossils; they have endured...1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Natural Selection”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 107
- Any living species which very closely resembles fossil relatives in most anatomical details.
- Crocodiles are living fossils that haven’t changed their appearance much in millions of years.
- Living in apparently splendid ease, travelling with a retinue of seventy, demanding the many courtesies due to a peer of the realm, exacting from his many manors rents and incidentals such as private wardships, in exactly the same way as did the lay lords, and making the most of his public...1967 April, J. I. Daeley, “Pluralism in the Diocese of Canterbury during the Administration of Matthew Parker, 1559–1575”, in C. W. Dugmore, editor, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, volume...
living fossil meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam
living fossil in Hindi
- species believed extinct but later found living
- जीवित जीवाश्म jīvit jīvāśma
living fossil in Tamil
- species believed extinct but later found living
- வாழும் தொல்லுயிர் எச்சம் vāḻum tolluyir eccam
living fossil in Telugu
- species believed extinct but later found living
- సజీవ శిలాజాలు sajīva śilājālu
living fossil in Malayalam
- species believed extinct but later found living
- സജീവഫോസിൽ sajīvaphōsil
More languagesFewer languages
- living fossil in Kannada
- ಜೀವಂತ ಫಾಸಿಲ್, ಜೀವಂತ ಪಳೆಯುಳಿಕೆ
- living fossil in Arabic
- حفرية حية
- living fossil in Indonesian
- fosil hidup
- living fossil in Persian
- فسیل زنده
- living fossil in Thai
- ซากดึกดำบรรพ์มีชีวิต
- living fossil in Vietnamese
- hóa thạch sống
Examples of living fossil in a sentence
- These anomalous forms may almost be called living fossils; they have endured to the present day, from having inhabited a confined area, and from having thus been exposed to less severe competition.1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Natural Selection”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray...
- It features in textbooks as well, a prime example of a "living fossil", a reminder of past glories now hanging on in a last-ditch action against final extinction.1986 October 23, Martin Wells, “Legend of the Living Fossil”, in Michael Kenward, editor, New Scientist, volume 112, number 1531, London...
- You, my friend, are a living fossil. / Jack: So the question is not where I am but when I am. […] The spell Aku cast must have ripped me from my own time and flung me into the distant future.2001 August 10, Paul Rudish, Genndy Tartakovsky, “Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie – Part II: The Samurai Called Jack”, in Samurai Jack...
- He seemed to be a living fossil from 'the days of popery' (as contemporaries, lacking an historical sense and groping for an expression adequate to convey what they meant, called the medieval era).1967 April, J. I. Daeley, “Pluralism in the Diocese of Canterbury during the Administration of Matthew Parker, 1559–1575”, in C. W....
Forms of living fossil
| plural | living fossils |
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Origin of living fossil
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.
Questions about living fossil
- What does living fossil mean?
- Living fossil means 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.
- What is living fossil in Hindi?
- Living fossil in Hindi is जीवित जीवाश्म (jīvit jīvāśma). See Living fossil meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use living fossil in a sentence?
- These anomalous forms may almost be called living fossils; they have endured to the present day, from having inhabited a confined area, and from having thus been exposed to less severe competition.
- What part of speech is living fossil?
- Living fossil is a noun.
- How do you pronounce living fossil?
- Living fossil is pronounced /ˈlɪvɪŋ ˈfɒsl̩/ (UK).
- What is the plural of living fossil?
- The plural of living fossil is living fossils.
Words near living fossil in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: living fossil (page history and authors); living fossil (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-living fossil.ogg.
Cite this entry: “living fossil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/living_fossil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.