Do you know that there are organisms on our planet that are hundreds of millions of years old? These beings have survived the many changes that Earth has gone through.
The evolution of each animal species depends on the environmental conditions on Earth. Investigating the Earth's history, we can see that some species managed to live during different geological periods of the planet, and that they developed several million years ago. reports National Geography.
Martialis heureka - age: 120 million years
Martialis is the oldest species of ant discovered in the Amazon rainforest. The name means "ants from Mars" in Latin, because the species is completely different in behavior from other ant species on Earth.
It is estimated that this species evolved on Earth 120 million years ago. Martialis heureka is pale in color, 3 millimeters long and has no eyes. They are used to living underground.
Chlamydoselachus anguineus - age: 150 million years
Frilled sharks were discovered in Tokyo in 2007.
They are considered "living fossils" and appeared on Earth 150 million years ago. A 1,5 meter long shark has 300 trident teeth in 25 rows.
Its strange mouth appears to be larger than that of other shark species. The hydrocarbon-rich liver and oily body help these sharks live in the depths of the ocean. Wrinkled sharks also have the power to attack their prey by surprise.
Cephalocarida - age: 200 million years
The horseshoe crab evolved on Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs, 200 million years ago. They are very small, only 2 to 4 millimeters in length. The power of survival in any conditions of weather and geological variations is the main asset of these animals.
Once the pool of these crayfish dries up, the eggs remain there for several years. Scientists discovered a special marine species in 1955. Also, they managed to discover the development of shrimp due to the rewetting of eggs that were several years old.
Acipenseridae - age: 200 million years
Sturgeons are the oldest members of the bony fish family. They evolved 200 million years ago. They live in Europe, Asia and North America. They are also the largest freshwater fish in North America.
During the winter they migrate to distant places. Their length is up to 1,7 meters, and their weight is between 600 and 200 kilograms. Unfortunately, sturgeons are now on the list of highly endangered species. Sturgeons lay a huge number of eggs, but the human demand for them is huge, which represents the biggest threat to them.
Latimeria - age: 360 million years
Coelacanths are one of the highly endangered fish species that evolved 360 million years ago. There are two types of celakanat in the world. They live mainly along the coasts of Africa and Indonesia. Their length is about 2 meters, and they weigh up to 90 kilograms.
They live at a depth of 700 meters below the surface of the water. Their lifespan is about 60 years. Coelacanths move like galloping horses. The fins allow the fish to have such a unique movement. The electro-sensory organ helps them to easily spot their prey in the ocean. Coelacanths also have the power to widen their mouths to capture larger prey.
Limulidae - age: 445 million years
Horseshoe crabs originated on Earth 445 million years ago. They live in shallow ocean waters around the world. They have a hard shell (exoskeleton), a long tail and spines. They have a total of nine eyes all over their body.
Of those nine, the two largest are used by the crab, and the other eyes are light receptors for movement control. They can also sense ultraviolet light.
Nautilus - age: 500 million years
Nautilus is a marine mollusk that dates back 500 million years. That's long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The Nautilus is estimated to be the only surviving member of a large group of oysters.
Nautilus can be found in the tropical waters of Andaman, Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef, at a depth of 670 meters. It is often described as a living fossil. Its body has multiple compartments, which makes it look like an octopus. The mouth of the nautilus is surrounded by 100 tentacles and a muscular cover above. It helps deter predators.
Medusozoa - age: 550 million years
The umbrella-shaped jellyfish can be found in all oceans of the world. Jellyfish are the oldest multi-organ animals in the world. They evolved in the oceans 550 million years ago.
They have no brain or nervous system. Jellyfish have various shapes and colors, and 90 percent of their bodies are water. They are also known to eat other jellyfish. The square jellyfish is considered the most poisonous species on Earth. Their tentacles have lice of 5.000 glowing cells.
Spongia (Porifera) - age: 580 million years
Sponges are a special type of marine animal that looks like plants. They appeared in the world's oceans 580 million years ago. There are about 5.000 different types of sponges in the world.
They live in colonies in different ocean depths. Sponges have no internal organs, arms or head. They have a special power to regenerate a lost part of the body, and a new sponge grows from the old one. The body of the sponge contains channels that become a refuge for many small sea creatures.
Cyanobacteria - age: 2,8 billion years
Cyanobacteria or blue-green bacteria are the oldest living system in the world. They date from 2,8 billion years ago and are the first microbes to produce oxygen through photosynthesis.
In this sense, they played a role in changing the Earth's atmosphere to one with oxygen. Unicellular blue-green bacteria reproduce by microfission.
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