66 Mio. Jahre für AUSGESTORBEN gehalten – dann fing man ihn LEBEND!

For sixty-six million years, there was no trace of this animal. Science was convinced it had gone extinct along with the dinosaurs. But then, a live coelacanth suddenly thrashed in the net of a fishing trawler off South Africa. The 1938 discovery became one of the greatest zoological sensations of the twentieth century. A lineage of fish that had existed for around four hundred million years and was known only from fossils had survived unnoticed in deep underwater caves. But the famous story of the "living fossil" holds a second surprise: for decades, the coelacanth was considered the missing link between fish and the first land vertebrates – and thus indirectly, an important part of our own evolutionary history. However, deciphering its genome showed that this globally accepted view was likely incorrect. In this video, you will learn: – how Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered the supposedly extinct fish – why the first unique find was almost completely lost – why scientists searched for a second specimen for fourteen years – why even a military aircraft was used for a single fish – how a second species was discovered at a market in Indonesia – why the coelacanth is not the famous missing link – why its genetic material changes exceptionally slowly – how this fish can be pregnant for about three years – why a survivor of five mass extinctions is now threatened by humans One animal survived asteroid impacts, climate changes, continental drift, and all the major mass extinctions in Earth's history. Yet, perhaps a few decades of modern fishing are enough to end its story for good. CHAPTERS 00:00 An Extinct Animal Suddenly Thrashs in a Net 01:09 The Incredible Discovery Off South Africa 03:12 The Unique Fish Begins to Decay 04:56 Smith Recognizes the Living Fossil 06:46 A Gap of Sixty-Six Million Years 08:39 The Alleged Link to Humans 10:02 The Fourteen-Year Search Begins 11:26 A Second Specimen Is Finally Caught 11:49 A Military Aircraft for a Single Fish 13:14 Why the Coelacanth Remained Undiscovered 14:22 A Second Sensation in Indonesia 16:00 A Completely New Species Is Confirmed 16:56 The Famous Evolutionary Theory Collapses 18:43 The Complete Genome Is Deciphered 19:20 The True Relative of Land Vertebrates 20:58 Why the Question Still Isn't Answered 22:36 Evolution in Extreme Slow Motion 25:09 The Secret Life in Underwater Caves 27:31 A Pregnancy of About Three Years 30:25 The Ancient Survivor Is Severely Endangered 31:16 How Many Coelacanths Still Exist? 33:08 Survived Five Mass Extinctions – Defeated by Humans? Subscribe to the channel for more stories about living fossils, extinct animals, and scientific discoveries that have completely changed our understanding of the past. #Coelacanth #LivingFossil #Evolution #Prehistoric #Science