West Indian Ocean Coelacanth

Fish > Sarcopterygii

The West Indian Ocean Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) is among the most legendary zoological discoveries in scientific history. Believed to have gone extinct alongside the dinosaurs roughly 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, this...

Dendrogramma

Invertebrates > Cnidaria

Dendrogramma (Dendrogramma enigmatica) captivated the international biological community upon its formal description in 2014 as a putative ‘living fossil’ resembling enigmatic Precambrian Ediacaran organisms. Originally collected from the deep bathyal...

Palau Primitive Cave Eel

Fish > Anguilliformes

The Palau Primitive Cave Eel (Protanguilla palau) is an astonishing ‘living fossil’ discovered in 2010 inside a deep, pitch-black submarine cavern in the coral reef lagoons of Palau. Representing such an ancient, basal divergence in the true eel...

Tuatara

Reptiles > Rhynchocephalia

The Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is an extraordinary reptilian survivor that holds a revered position in evolutionary paleontology. Although resembling a robust lizard, it is not a lizard at all; rather, it is the sole surviving member of Rhynchocephalia, an ancient...

Dolomite Cycad

Plants > Cycads

The Dolomite Cycad (Encephalartos dolomiticus) is an exceptionally majestic, ancient gymnosperm that clings to sheer, cloud-shrouded limestone cliffs in the northeastern Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. Instantly recognizable by its striking silvery-blue,...