Description
The story of the discovery of a coelacanth, a fish thought to be extinct for seventy million years, and its study by an eccentric icthyologist is dramatically presented in a work that discusses the specie's habits, habitat, number, diet, reproduction, and more
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"An engrossing tale of obsession, adventure and scientific reasoning." —Betty Ann Kevles,Los Angeles TimesIn the winter of 1938, a fishing boat by chance dragged from the Indian Ocean a fish thought extinct for 70 million years. It was a coelacanth, which thrived concurrently with dinosaurs and pterodactyls—an animal of major importance to those who study the history of vertebrate life.Living Fossil describes the life and habitat of the coelcanth and what scientists have learned about it during fifty years of research. It is an exciting and very human story, filled with ambitious and brilliant people, that reveals much about the practice of modern science.
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