Living Fossil - The Story of the Coelacanth (Paperback, Revised)

"An engrossing tale of obsession, adventure and scientific reasoning." —Betty Ann Kevles, Los Angeles Times

In 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.

"Authoritative and eminently readable, deserving of a wide audience." —James D. Ebert, National Academy of Sciences

"[A] fanatastic fish story. . . . [Thomson] succesfully nags the reader's attention." —James Ferrell, New York Times Book Review

"One of the classic stories of zoology, told with uncommon authority and grace." —Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University

"A marvelous book describing the discovery of the coelacanth and its importance to evolutionary biology. . . . Fascinating reading for scientist and non-scientist alike." —George D. Langdon, president, American Museum of Natural History