What is special about the tuatara?

It is the last of an ancient reptile order

What does living fossil really mean?

A species resembling ancient relatives

An animal that never changes at all

Living Fossils Quiz: Coelacanths, Nautiluses and Tuatara

This living fossils quiz meets animals and plants that look much like ancient relatives. Play 10 interactive questions on the coelacanth thought extinct until 1938, a second species found in Indonesia, the chambered nautilus, the tuatara, last of its reptile order, horseshoe crabs, the ginkgo tree, the Wollemi pine found in 1994 and Darwin's term.

Start Living Fossils Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Term
Who first used the phrase living fossil?
Coel
Which fish was thought extinct until 1938?
Finder
Who spotted the 1938 coelacanth?
Second
Where was a second coelacanth species found?
Nautilus
Which shelled animal has a chambered spiral shell?
Tuatara
What is special about the tuatara?
Crab
Which animal with blue blood is a living fossil?
Tree
Which tree is a famous plant living fossil?
Pine
Which pine was discovered alive in 1994?
Meaning
What does living fossil really mean?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who first used the phrase living fossil?
Answer: Charles Darwin
He wrote it in 1859.
Q2: Which fish was thought extinct until 1938?
Answer: The coelacanth
It was found off South Africa.
Q3: Who spotted the 1938 coelacanth?
Answer: Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer
A fisherman's catch caught her eye.
Q4: Where was a second coelacanth species found?
Answer: Indonesia
It was confirmed in the late 1990s.
Q5: Which shelled animal has a chambered spiral shell?
Answer: The nautilus
Its design is very old.
Q6: What is special about the tuatara?
Answer: It is the last of an ancient reptile order
It lives in New Zealand.
Q7: Which animal with blue blood is a living fossil?
Answer: The horseshoe crab
It is related to spiders.
Q8: Which tree is a famous plant living fossil?
Answer: Ginkgo
Its fan-shaped leaves are ancient.
Q9: Which pine was discovered alive in 1994?
Answer: The Wollemi pine
It grows in a canyon near Sydney.
Q10: What does living fossil really mean?
Answer: A species resembling ancient relatives
Some evolution still happens.

Survivors From Deep Time

Living fossils are species that closely resemble relatives known only from ancient fossils. Charles Darwin used the phrase in 1859. Scientists note that these species still evolve, but their basic form has changed little.

The coelacanth, a fish thought extinct for tens of millions of years, was found off South Africa in 1938 when museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer noticed it in a fisherman's catch. A second species was confirmed in Indonesia in the late 1990s. The chambered nautilus and the horseshoe crab are other famous examples.

New Zealand's tuatara is the last survivor of an ancient reptile order. Among plants, the ginkgo tree has fan-shaped leaves like those of fossils, and the Wollemi pine was discovered alive in a canyon near Sydney in 1994.

What This Quiz Teaches

Nature fans will enjoy these questions.

What living fossils are
Which fish was rediscovered
Which animals qualify
Which plants qualify
What the term really means

Did You Know?

Coelacanths have lobed fins.
Wollemi pines are now sold to gardeners.
Tuatara have a third eye spot.
Ginkgo trees line many city streets.
Lungfish are also called living fossils.