Etymology

living fossil

liv·ing fos·sil

Today it 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. Full definition →

First used 1859
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The story

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.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1859 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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.