A living fossil fish, which was thought to be extinct, was caught in South Africa in 1938. That fish was a

Coelacanths were thought to be extinct until a live one was caught in 1938. Coelacanths were known only from fossils until a live Latimeria chalumnae was discovered off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Until then, they were presumed to have gone extinct in the late Cretaceous period, over 65 million years ago. The coelacanth was long considered a "living fossil" because scientists thought it was the sole remaining member of a taxon otherwise known only from fossils, with no close relations alive.