When we talk about the Jurassic period, we think of dinosaurs. Gagajun wants to ask, besides the first time, have you ever seen any living creatures that have survived since the age of dinosaurs?
About 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs that once dominated the earth suddenly disappeared completely. At the same time, 70% of the creatures on the earth suddenly died out at that time, leaving a mystery that is hard to solve. Among the creatures that survived at that time, a small number of them have been tenaciously reproducing to this day. So, which of today's animals used to live under the same sky as dinosaurs?
1、 Three eyed dinosaur shrimp
'three eyed dinosaur shrimp ', also known as' horseshoe crab', is an ancient species that appeared on the earth at the same time as dinosaurs. It looks like shrimp and fish. This strange creature appeared in science fiction movies is mostly produced in natural ponds. In dry seasons, adults will lose water and die, but their eggs will enter the diapause period. When the rainy season comes, the natural pond will hatch again. In a dry environment, the eggs of three eyed dinosaur shrimp can still be re hatched after 25 years. So the three eyed shrimp escaped the extinction of dinosaurs.
2、 Earthworm alligator
The crocodile now lives in German waters. It has triangular, blade like teeth, fine serrated structure, scissors like structure of the upper jaw and lower jaw teeth contact mode, which is very similar to today's big Barracuda.
3、 Fairy shrimp
"Fairy shrimp" is a seasonal aquatic crustacean with a history of more than 200 million years. This small creature is light green, with black eyes protruding on both sides of its head, red forked tail, and more than ten pairs of small plush claws on both sides of its body. The posture of swimming in the water is belly up, which makes people feel that they are really 'backstroking'. Because of its short life cycle (generally, it can survive for one to three months), there are few reports of living shrimp in the wild. The eggs of fairy shrimp, which are smaller than sand grains, have a hard protective shell and can resist boiling water. They still have vitality. A tiny egg can wait for 10000 years until it hatches when there is water. They can be called a miracle in the biological world.
4、 Echidna
The echidna, also known as the 'spiny ant eater', is one of the most primitive mammals on the earth, which appeared at the same time as dinosaurs. It looks like a hedgehog, has a short tail and is about 40-50 cm long. Some body hairs become hard spines with fine hairs between spines and ventral surface. The tip of the snout is short and straight with a horny sheath. It has no teeth, and its tongue is as thin as a thread. It has mucus on it and can stick out of the mouth to catch food. Short legs, 5 claws in front and 5 claws in back, long and sharp, suitable for digging. Moles like, mostly nocturnal, burrowing, to termites, ants and other insects for food.
5、 Platypus
Platypus is also one of the most primitive mammals. It is a mammal that has not fully evolved. There are very few species. Among the same genera, platypus is the only animal, and it is also one of the lowest mammals. The survival age of platypus' close relatives can be traced back to 167 million years ago, when dinosaurs became the ruler of the earth. Even after a long period of evolution, platypus still retains some primitive features, which is in sharp contrast to the current placental mammals.
6、 Gregarious bee
Social wasps emerged in the Cretaceous period and evolved together with flowering plants, or angiosperms. Both male and female live in the same nest, but they are different in morphology, physiology and division of labor. The female is larger and specializes in oviposition and reproduction; the male is smaller than the female and is specialized in mating and dies after mating; the worker bee is smaller and is a female with underdeveloped genitalia, which is specialized in nesting, collecting food, feeding larvae, cleaning nest room and regulating nest humidity. Both Italian bee and Chinese bee are gregarious species. Without this kind of cooperation and development, today's humans and bears will not want to drink honey.
7、 Sichuan vole
Sichuan vole, living in the transition zone between Plateau and mountain, is a mammal. Its biggest characteristic is that its teeth are shorter than ordinary voles, its adaptability is very poor, its physiological function is primitive, and it is extremely sensitive to the changes of ecological environment. It does not like to live with human beings. As an ancient mouse species, it once lived in the same era with dinosaurs, survived from the Quaternary glacial age, and now its survival range is very small.
8、 Coelacanth
Coelacanth is one of the oldest fishes in the world, which is regarded as a living fossil. The coelacanth was once thought to be extinct 65 million years ago, but it was discovered again in 1938, and it was called a living fossil of the dinosaur age. Coelacanths appeared 3.5 billion years ago, when they were extremely abundant on earth. Like other fish of the same species, it has a lower degree of ossification, showing a general trend of changing from the early freshwater environment to the marine lifestyle.
9、 Lizard
The lizard is the only reptile that survived in the dinosaur age known on the earth, and its number is very rare. But the lizard, known as New Zealand's living fossil, is in danger of extinction due to global warming. Studies have shown that the increase in temperature has led to a significant increase in the proportion of males in lizards, which may eventually become extinct due to the lack of females.