an animal or plant, such as the coelacanth and ginkgo, belonging to a group most of whose members are extinct
living fossil in American English
noun
an 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
Word origin
[1920–25]
Examples of 'living fossil' in a sentence
living fossil
A lovely living fossil handling lovely living fossils; that's what we're after.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The “living fossil” is in.
canada.com (2012)
Red pandas are known as a living fossil because they are not related to any other animal.