Through a series of fictionalized diary entries based on Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer's own writings, this case recounts the "discovery" in South Africa in 1938 of a fish believed to be extinct for over 70 million years. The case was developed for use in an introductory freshman biology course. In this setting, it could be used as a general introduction to the nature/methods of scientific inquiry at the very start of a semester or later in the semester as an introduction to the topic of evolution. Additionally, this case could be modified for use in a number of upper-level biology courses such as ichthyology (as a springboard into a discussion of ancient fish lineages or fish evolution), evolutionary biology (as an introduction to evolutionary relationships between classes of animals), or conservation ecology (as an illustration of the issues involved in studying rare animal species).