Forgotten London Fossil Reveals New Coelacanth Species, Filling 50-Million-Year Evolutionary Gap
A coelacanth fossil stored for over 150 years at London’s Natural History Museum has been identified as a new species, Macropoma gombessae. Using non-invasive X-ray computed tomography, researchers revealed internal structures that bridge a 50-million-year gap in the evolutionary lineage of coelacanths. The discovery challenges the notion of coelacanths as static 'living fossils' and highlights the potential of modern imaging to unlock secrets in existing museum collections without damaging specimens.
