Synopsis
The story of the discovery of a coelacanth, a fish thought to be extinct for seventy million years, and its study by an eccentric icthyologist is dramatically presented in a work that discusses the specie's habits, habitat, number, diet, reproduction, and more
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Reviews
The 1938 discovery of a strange, five-foot, 250-pound fish off the coast of South Africa excited the scientific community worldwide. Identified as Latimeria chalumnae , a coelacanth, the fish was previously known only in the fossil record of the Cretaceous period. In 1952 a second specimen was caught in the western Indian Ocean off the Comoro Islands, then a French territory. The authorities allowed only French scientists access to the fish, but after the islands' independence in the mid-'70s, the fish became more widely available for research. Thomson, director of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, studied the first fresh-frozen specimen and has written an intriguing biological detective story, tracing the coelacanth's morphology and biology, and placing it in the evolutionary scale. Illustrations.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The study of coelacanths, the "living fossils" of the popular press, provides an ideal opportunity for examining various facets of scientific research itself. Thomson does an admirable job of using the 1938 discovery of a fish thought to be extinct for 70 million years and the subsequent collection and examination of this remarkable species to track the research process and the influence of such variables as personality and nationality. The importance of the coelacanth to the study of evolution is clearly presented for general readers (except for the discussion of the intricacies of fish classification). But this shortcoming does not preclude a recommendation for this book, which should prove popular in general and specialized science collections.
- Susan Klimley, Columbia Univ. Libs.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Living Fossil : The Story of the Coelacanth
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Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W., 1991
ISBN 10: 0393029565
ISBN 13: 9780393029567
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Living Fossil : The Story of the Coelacanth
Published by
Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W., 1991
ISBN 10: 0393029565
ISBN 13: 9780393029567
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LIVING FOSSIL: The Story of the Coelacanth
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ISBN 10: 0393029565
ISBN 13: 9780393029567
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