Genetic_Mishap's definitions
A fish derived from a group once thought extinct. Used as a rhetorical tool by cryptozoologists and creationists to give themselves credibility; the former believe that if a "prehistoric fish" can be found then so can the big monsters that people cook up, while the latter believes that the fish is proof that animals don't evolve.
1. The cryptozoologists don't realize that there's a big difference between finding a coelacanth off the South African coast and finding a 10-foot hairy humanoid in the rapidly dissapearing wooded space in between Starbucks sites.
2. The creationists don't realize that it's the fish's lineage that's ancient and the fish is actually different than its fossil ancestors; and even if it hadn't, it wouldn't matter because natural selction will retard change if a species is perfectly adapted.
2. The creationists don't realize that it's the fish's lineage that's ancient and the fish is actually different than its fossil ancestors; and even if it hadn't, it wouldn't matter because natural selction will retard change if a species is perfectly adapted.
by Genetic_Mishap April 22, 2006
Get the coelacanthmug.