[Rockhounds] Living fossils: 12 creatures that look the same now as they did millions of years ago

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

>From the coelacanth to the cockroach, these "living fossil" creatures
haven't changed much in millions or even hundreds of millions of years.

A living fossil is a species that hasn’t evolved significantly for millions
of years and closely resembles ancestors found in the fossil record.

Charles Darwin coined the term "living fossil" in 1859 to describe living
species that still looked like their ancestors from millions of years ago
and were often the last surviving lineage. Anatomically, these species tend
to look unchanged, although genetically species are always evolving.

The term "living fossil" has been hotly debated by scientists as the
definition of what constitutes unchanged, and over what time periods,
varies widely. But generally, living fossils are ancient species with an
anatomy that still closely resembles related fossil creatures from earlier
in evolutionary history.
https://www.livescience.com/animals/living-fossils-creatures-that-look-the-same-now-as-they-did-millions-of-years-ago