For example, a trilobite that gets eroded out of its Cambrian-aged limestone matrix, and reworked into Miocene-aged siltstone.ДЄ living fossil is an extant taxon that appears to have changed so little compared with fossil remains, that it is considered identical. Later such fossils turn out to be freed from the original seam and refossilized in a younger sediment. Related but distinct concepts ДЄn Elvis taxon is a look-alike that has supplanted an extinct taxon through convergent evolution.ДЄ zombie taxon is a taxon that contains specimens that have been collected from strata younger than the extinction of the taxon.

Therefore, reappearance of Lazarus taxa probably reflects the rebound after a period of extreme rarity during the aftermath of such extinctions. However, there appears to be no link with the abundance of fossiliferous sites and the proportion of Lazarus taxa, and no missing taxa have been found in potential refuges. The fossil record is inherently sporadic (only a very small fraction of organisms become fossilized, and an even smaller fraction are discovered before destruction) and contains gaps not necessarily caused by extinction, particularly when the number of individuals in a taxon is very low.ДЄfter mass extinctions, such as the PermianвЂ“Triassic extinction event, the Lazarus effect occurred for many taxa. Lazarus taxa are observational artifacts that appear to occur either because of (local) extinction, later resupplied, or as a sampling artifact. The term refers to the story in the Christian biblical Gospel of John, in which Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. Earlier work also supports the concept though without using the name Lazarus taxon, like work by Christopher R. Wignall and Benton defined Lazarus taxa as, 'At times of biotic crisis many taxa go extinct, but others only temporarily disappeared from the fossil record, often for intervals measured in millions of years, before reappearing unchanged'. Flessa & David Jablonski in 1983 and was then expanded by Jablonski in 1986. The term Lazarus taxon was coined by Karl W. Likewise in conservation biology and ecology, it can refer to species or populations that were thought to be extinct, and are rediscovered. In paleontology, a Lazarus taxon (plural taxa) is a taxon that disappears for one or more periods from the fossil record, only to appear again later. The takahe of New Zealand had not been seen since 1898 when it was 'rediscovered' in 1948.