WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
liv′ing fos′sil,
- Paleontologyan organism that is a living example of an otherwise extinct group and that has remained virtually unchanged in structure and function over a long period of time, as the coelacanth and the horseshoe crab.
- 1920–25
'living fossil' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):