Coelacanth Animation.

History of Science
Biodiversity
Edward Hessler

Many of you know the story of the discovery of the coelacanth, a species thought long-extinct.

The animators extraordinaire, Flora Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck trace "the coelacanth's incredible journey through several distinct geological periods until its recent resurfacing when it was found to be nearly unchanged" the 65 million years or so it was considered an ancient fossil.

Discoveries such as this are also the story of people, sometimes of a single person. Lichtman and Shattuck organize this story around one of them, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the curator of the local museum who sought to preserve the find.

h/t Aeon (And also a tip of the hat to Rurik Johnson who corrected an attribution. This short video is part of the Biointeractive/New York Times "Animated Life" collection of five scientific pioneers and their discoveries: http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/animated-life)