>Then there's the Coelacanth.

The modern coelocanth Latimeria has no fossil
record, so is not a living fossil. In fact it is
not at all closely-related to any known fossil
crossopterygian ("lobefin") fish.

>    Try this: a species is nearing extinction
>when it has not appeared on a list for several
>years---and when it does---is too expensive to
>buy.

Now that might be closer to the mark... but some
dealers may be using this as a ploy to
artificially inflate prices. Usually the trend is
to lower prices of "rarities" over time. Look at
Conus milneedwardsi... now available w/operc for
$30US.

>Thanks for the information about specie"s"
>extinction.  We had noted that in the
>"Compendium of Landshells" Tropidophora
>cuvierana (Petit,1841 ) is listed as extinct.
>At COA in Houston a few years back, there was a
>dealer from Italy I think, who had bags of them
>with opercs.  Apparantly their habitat was not
>treetop as previously presumed but in detritus
>under the trees.

Likewise T. tricarinata (Müller 1774) so-called
subspecies (form) bicarinata, of hich I purchased
a recently-live-collected specimen just a few
years ago.

>    One of my favorite posessions is an
>Ordivician trilobite. It's extinct. But just
>maybe---someone will discover living trilobites.

No chance for that one! Though some large isopods
look remarkably trilobitelike.

>Dinosaurs are extinct. They were too big to hide somewhere.

Nope... wrong. They are still around, and on land
are still the most successful (if generally
pretty small) vertebrates... and we sometimes
keep examples with bent snoiuts in cages. That
they can talk and KNOW whatb they are talking
about says something about their intelligence,
too.

>  You just have to leave a tiny little gap for---"maybe".

Certainly, within reason. This is part of the fun
of science... you never know just what's around
the next bend.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
64 (3) 453-4436
<[log in to unmask]>
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut
________________________________
I want your sinistral gastropods!
________________________________
Opinions in this e-mail are my own, not those of my institution
_______________________________________________
A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?

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