‘fossil’ = the imprints or shapes of the remains of an animal or plant that have been stuck in the layers of earth for a very very long time, from which we now learn how those animals or plants were in the past; for an article that explains how fossils are formed, please click here

‘Living fossil’ is more commonly used to refer to an animal that has not changed much since centuries, e.g. “The coelacanth fish is said to be the living fossil.” i.e. it has been living without any changes in its body form for centuries now — just like their thousands of years old fossils found in the deep layers of the earth. (Most of the present forms of living things that are found in the world today, including man, are believed to have changed a lot over the years.). For an illustrated article that explains 15 animal living fossils, please click here.