What does living fossil mean?
Definitions for living fossil
liv·ing fos·sil
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word living fossil.
Wiktionary
living fossilnoun
Any species discovered first as a fossil and believed extinct, but which is later found living.
living fossilnoun
Any living species which very closely resembles fossil relatives in most anatomical details.
Wikipedia
Living fossil
A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossils commonly are of species-poor lineages, but they need not be. While the body plan of a living fossil remains superficially similar, it is never the same species as the remote relatives it resembles, because genetic drift would inevitably change its chromosomal structure. Living fossils exhibit stasis (also called "bradytely") over geologically long time scales. Popular literature may wrongly claim that a "living fossil" has undergone no significant evolution since fossil times, with practically no molecular evolution or morphological changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims.The minimal superficial changes to living fossils are mistakenly declared as an absence of evolution, but they are examples of stabilizing selection, which is an evolutionary process—and perhaps the dominant process of morphological evolution.
Wikidata
Living fossil
A living fossil is a living species of organism which appears to be the same as a species otherwise only known from fossils and which has no close living relatives. These species have all survived major extinction events, and generally retain low taxonomic diversities. A species which successfully radiates has become too successful to be considered a "living fossil".
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of living fossil in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of living fossil in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
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"living fossil." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/living+fossil>.
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