zombie taxon

English

Etymology

Referring to the fossil having been mobile, or "walking", long after the death of the original organism.

Noun

A Jurassic ammonite mold bored by burrowing seafloor organisms when it was redeposited in Cretaceous sediments, an example of a zombie taxon.

zombie taxon (plural zombie taxa)

1. (paleontology) A taxon that falsely appears to persist until, or reappear at, a time in the fossil record later than the taxon's actual point of extinction, due to fossils of organisms belonging to the taxon having been eroded from their original strata and redeposited in the source sediments for younger strata.

Coordinate terms

• Elvis taxon
• Lazarus taxon