When was the coelacanth rediscovered alive?

The coelacanth was rediscovered alive in 1938 when a specimen was brought in from near the Chalumna River in South Africa. Before then, it was famous as a prehistoric fish known only from fossils thought to represent an extinct lineage. Its rediscovery caused a sensation because the species had appeared to vanish for millions of years. Later, another living population was found near Indonesia in 1997. The coelacanth remains one of the most famous examples of a “living fossil,” although that term is informal.