Customer Reviews

Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth (Carolrhoda Photo Books)

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The mysteries of the ocean just keep on amazing me! This is a superbly written book about a fish, the coelacanth, that was thought to be extinct. Ms. Walker presents a tremendous amount of material in a highly readable manner. Her well-chosen photographs, drawings, and maps compliment her rich text. Ms. Walker has written clearly, bringing together comprehensive scientific research into a unique story of a unique fish. This is a terrific book and a definite must for any collection of ocean books.

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered the fish long believed extinct on December 22, 1938. Walker provides the perfect amount of detail to make for a lively description of the research and discoveries that scientists have made until the present. Photographs and illustrations are excellent. Includes maps, timeline, source notes, selected bibliography, glossary, and index. Karen Woodworth-Roman, Children's Science Book Review

Are you interested in dinosaurs, fossils, and archeology? Then the book, "Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth" is a good book for readers of all ages.

Written by Sally M. Walker, this is a good read about a prehistoric fish that should have died out millions of years ago. Bolstered by terrific photographs throughout the book, Ms. Walker tells the very interesting story of the modern discovery of the Coelacanth by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer on December 22, 1938 in East London, South Africa. Courtenay-Latimer was director of the East London Museum and when she saw the beautiful iridescent blue, five-foot-long fish in a pile with other fish that day, she remarked, "...there appeared the most beautiful fish I had ever seen." The fish had hard scales with spiny points, and its fins were thick and looked like fin-shaped feet. It was a most unusual fish! It was a possibility that this fish might be the missing link, the fish that crawled on land and began the evolution of land animals.

The author takes us through the history of the subsequent searches for more Coelacanths, to further study this amazing fish. She brings us to the present day, where the Coelacanth has been seen in action on the ocean floor by modern submersibles. The book is well written and easy to understand. The author includes a timeline from 1938 to 2001 that tells the story of the research done on the Coelacanth, and includes a glossary of terms so that everyone can understand this amazing tale.

I highly recommend this book to children and adults from ages 8 to 99.

I first saw this book when the middle/high school in whose library I work bought it for our collection. I was really attracted to it, being interested in things prehistoric, and found it to contain not only wonderful illustrations but also a great deal of good information that was fun to read and interesting to adults as well as young adults. I would highly recommend it.