Living fossil
top: added citation needed to normative claim regarding use of the term
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[[File:Coelacanth CAS 1.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[coelacanth]]s were thought to have gone extinct {{Ma|66}}, until a living specimen belonging to the [[order (biology)|order]] was discovered in 1938.]] |
[[File:Coelacanth CAS 1.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[coelacanth]]s were thought to have gone extinct {{Ma|66}}, until a living specimen belonging to the [[order (biology)|order]] was discovered in 1938.]] |
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A''' living fossil '''is a term for an [[extant taxon]] that [[phenotypically]] resembles related [[species]] known only from the fossil record, though scientifically the term is [[Deprecation|deprecated]] and avoided. 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. |
A''' living fossil '''is a term for an [[extant taxon]] that [[phenotypically]] resembles related [[species]] known only from the fossil record, though scientifically the term is [[Deprecation|deprecated]] and avoided{{Citation needed}}. 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. |
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Living fossils exhibit [[punctuated equilibrium|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 [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims.{{Cite journal|title = Why coelacanths are not 'living fossils'|journal = BioEssays|date = 2013-04-01|issn = 1521-1878|pages = 332–338|volume = 35|issue = 4|doi = 10.1002/bies.201200145|language = en|first1 = Didier|last1 = Casane|first2 = Patrick|last2 = Laurenti|pmid=23382020|s2cid = 2751255|doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal|title = Multiple global radiations in tadpole shrimps challenge the concept of 'living fossils'|journal = PeerJ|pmc = 3628881|pmid = 23638400|volume = 1|doi = 10.7717/peerj.62|first1 = Thomas C.|last1 = Mathers|first2 = Robert L.|last2 = Hammond|first3 = Ronald A.|last3 = Jenner|first4 = Bernd|last4 = Hänfling|first5 = Africa|last5 = Gómez|pages=e62|year = 2013 | doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal|title = Relict species: a relict concept?|journal = Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date = 2014-01-12|issn = 0169-5347|pmid = 25454211|pages = 655–663|volume = 29|issue = 12|doi = 10.1016/j.tree.2014.10.002|language = en|first1 = Philippe|last1 = Grandcolas|first2 = Romain|last2 = Nattier|first3 = Steve|last3 = Trewick| bibcode=2014TEcoE..29..655G }} |
Living fossils exhibit [[punctuated equilibrium|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 [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims.{{Cite journal|title = Why coelacanths are not 'living fossils'|journal = BioEssays|date = 2013-04-01|issn = 1521-1878|pages = 332–338|volume = 35|issue = 4|doi = 10.1002/bies.201200145|language = en|first1 = Didier|last1 = Casane|first2 = Patrick|last2 = Laurenti|pmid=23382020|s2cid = 2751255|doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal|title = Multiple global radiations in tadpole shrimps challenge the concept of 'living fossils'|journal = PeerJ|pmc = 3628881|pmid = 23638400|volume = 1|doi = 10.7717/peerj.62|first1 = Thomas C.|last1 = Mathers|first2 = Robert L.|last2 = Hammond|first3 = Ronald A.|last3 = Jenner|first4 = Bernd|last4 = Hänfling|first5 = Africa|last5 = Gómez|pages=e62|year = 2013 | doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal|title = Relict species: a relict concept?|journal = Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date = 2014-01-12|issn = 0169-5347|pmid = 25454211|pages = 655–663|volume = 29|issue = 12|doi = 10.1016/j.tree.2014.10.002|language = en|first1 = Philippe|last1 = Grandcolas|first2 = Romain|last2 = Nattier|first3 = Steve|last3 = Trewick| bibcode=2014TEcoE..29..655G }} |
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