The coelacanth was believed to have gone extinct about 66 million years ago, until one was spotted in South Africa in 1938. Naturalist and museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer played a key part in that event.

Research:

• Ashworth, Willam B. Jr. “Scientist of the Day – Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.” Linda Hall Library. 2/24/2020. https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/marjorie-courtenay-latimer/


• Bruton, Mike. “Curator and Crusader: The Life and Work of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.” Pinetown Printers, 2019.


• Courtenay-Latimer, M. “My Story of the First Coelacanth.” Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences. No. 134. 12/22/1979. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15956893#page/18/mode/1up


• Courtenay-Latimer, Marjorie. “Reminiscences of the Discovery of the Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae.” Interdisciplinary Journal of the International Society of Cryptozoology. Vol. 8. 1989.


• Hatchuel, Martin. “The Coelacanth.” Knysna Museums. https://www.knysnamuseums.co.za/pages/the-coelacanth/


• Jewett, Susan L. “Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer: More than the Coelacanth!” Division of Fishes, Smithsonian Institution.


• Schramm, Sally. “Marjorie Eileen Doris Courtenay-Latimer: Beyond the Coelacanth.” Biodiversity Heritage Library Blog. https://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2019/03/marjorie-eileen-doris-courtenay-latimer.html


• Smith, Anthony. “Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.” The Guardian. 5/20/2004. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/may/21/guardianobituaries


• Smith, J.L.B. “The Living Cœlacanthid Fish from South Africa.” Nature 143, 748–750 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143748a0


• Smith, J.L.B. “The Search Beneath the Sea: The Story of the Coelacanth.” New York. Holt. 1956.


• Smith, J.L.B. Living Fish of Mesozoic Type.” Nature 143, 455–456 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143455a0


• The Coelacanth : the Journal of the Border Historical Society. Vol. 42 No. 1 (2004). https://journal.ru.ac.za/index.php/Coelacanth/issue/view/143


• Tyson, Peter. “Moment of Discovery.” PBS Nova. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fish/letters.html


• Weinberg, Samantha. “A Fish Caught in Time: the Search for the Coelacanth.” New York : HarperCollins Publishers. 2001.


• Yanes, Javier. “The Woman Who Brought a Fish Back From the Dead.” BBVA Open Mind. 2/17/2023. https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/leading-figures/marjorie-courtenay-latimer-fossil-fish-coelacanth/

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