With how long the earth has been around, there’s been a lot of life that’s fallen by the wayside and ultimately died out. But in the ashes of natural disasters and adversity, some animals refused to lie down and become extinct – they are nature’s survivors.
Crocodiles
This list wouldn’t have been complete without having the reptilian king of evolution. The crocodile has been on the planet for around 95 million years and has remained largely unchanged. A few of their adaptations to help them survive is their incredible bite force and ability to hold their breath for hours while waiting completely motionless, waiting for their prey.
Sharks
Sharks are an amazing species that have lived on the planet for twice as long as the dinosaurs at 400 million years. Like the crocodile, they’ve remained mostly unchanged with some genetic variants. They allegedly evolved from fish with no eyes, bones, or fins and are now the apex predator they are today.
Lizards
Reptiles are great evolutionary survivors in general. Lizards separated themselves from dinosaurs when they developed legs that stuck outwards rather than straight to the ground. Lizards come in all sorts of shapes and sizes to adapt to their habitat. Some can swim while others are amazing at clinging to trees. Some even spit blood from their eyes while others use bacteria as venom.
Horseshoe Crabs
Horseshoe Crabs have been found as fossils dating back to nearly 450 million years ago. They are even older than sharks and have remained unchanged in all that time. They have unique blood that is very valuable and is used in medicine to combat pathogens and disease. Today the blood is sourced as ethically as it can be, but there is still a 15% mortality rate for the animals.
Turtles
Turtles are evoluntionary marvels, with evidence suggesting they share the same ancestor as the dinosaurs. They are at least 260 million years old as a species and have stayed the same with a few exceptions. Today, there are many different kinds of turtle, with the alligator snapping turtle being a standout specimen that is predatory.
Coelacanth
Coelacanths are a prehistoric group of fish that, up until recently, were only known about because of fossils. They have been around for more than 300 millions years and were recently found to be very much alive. Their numbers are very low, at less than 500 specimens around.
Chicken
Looking at poultry, it might be hard to compare them to a T-rex, but they share a lot of DNA with them over other dinosaurs. The closest living ancestor of the chicken is the Southeast Asian red fowl from 2000 B.C. Since then, they’ve adapted to what we see them today.
Ostriches
Ostriches are another avian animal that shares a lot of DNA with dinosaurs. Fossils of an closely related ancestor have been found as far back as 20 million years ago. The ancestor was likely a giant bird that inhabited Madagascar and then went on to other parts of the world.
Snakes
Snakes are a living example of an animal that evolved by getting rid of a part of their anatomy that they didn’t need anymore – their legs. The legless reptiles are thought to have evolved from burrowing lizards that lived 145 to 65 million years ago. They haven’t changed since then and are perfect predators in their environment.
Jellyfish
Although jellyfish are often taken lightly, they are perfectly adapted animals that were most likely the earliest to have motor functions in the ocean. At some point, they broke free from being static and started swimming through the water before many other animals.
Source:
27 Prehistoric Animals That Are Still Alive Today
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