living fossil

living fossil Word Origin noun

1. an organism that is a living example of an otherwise extinct group and that has remained virtually unchanged in structure and function over a long period of time, as the coelacanth and the horseshoe crab.

Origin of living fossil First recorded in 1920–25 British Dictionary definitions for living fossil living fossil noun

1. an animal or plant, such as the coelacanth and ginkgo, belonging to a group most of whose members are extinct