On February 16, 1939, experts identified a coelacanth, a fish thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago. Museum curator Marjorie Courtney-Latimer and Professor James Leonard Brierley Smith identified a coelacanth as the fish Courtney-Latimer pulled from a net off the coast of East London, South Africa. 
 
Coelacanths live in deep reefs and volcanic caves under the seas around southeastern Africa and Indonesia. Their isolated habitat and behavior kept people from discovering them for a long time. 
biologist
Noun

scientist who studies living organisms.
cave
Noun

underground chamber that opens to the surface. Cave entrances can be on land or in water.
coast
Noun

edge of land along the sea or other large body of water.
curator
Noun

person who designs, assembles, and manages an exhibit at a museum or other cultural center.
extinct
Adjective

no longer existing.
habitat
Noun

environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time.
isolate
Verb

to set one thing or organism apart from others.
ocean
Noun

large body of salt water that covers most of the Earth.
oceanographer
Noun

person who studies the ocean.
reef
Noun

a ridge of rocks, coral, or sand rising from the ocean floor all the way to or near the ocean's surface.
volcanic
Adjective

having to do with volcanoes.

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    Editor

    Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society

    Producer

    Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society

    Last Updated

    Feb. 13, 2015

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