Coelacanths are an order of fish that were first discovered as fossils. Since no living specimens were found, it was assumed that they had perished in the Late Cretaceous along with the dinosaurs. However in 1938, they were found to be alive off the coast of South Africa. The earliest fossils date back to the Devonian period (long before the dinosaurs emerged in the Triassic) which means Coelacanths have changed very little since their origins roughly 400 million years ago. Despite living as a species for so long, Coelacanths are still a very endangered species.