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Macintosh Picture Format  |  1996-09-10  |  190.4 KB  |  640x310  |  8-bit (185 colors)
   ocr: sometimes increased by happenstance. Until 1938, coelacanths were considered extinct; we thought the last one had lived approximately seventy million years ago. In December of 1938, however, fishermen in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of South Africa caught a living coelacanth like the one pictured here. It was SO similar to its ancient relatives that it was called a "living fossil." - For years after this serendipitous discovery, scientists searched for another living coelacanth. Finally, off the Comoro Islands, north of Madagascar, they met with success. Since then, more than two hun ...