Which animal is the oldest on earth
Which animal is the oldest on earth
Some people mistakenly believe that the world of the ancientsanimals is limited only to extinct dinosaurs and mammoths. But this is far from the case. In fact, it is much more diverse: the Earth was inhabited by millions of creatures, most of which have long since become fossils, but not all. At present, it is still possible to observe some old-timers, whose genus is hundreds of millions of years old.
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Cockroaches These are the most ancient insects livingon the ground. They appeared about 320 million years ago. Currently, entomologists number more than 4,5 thousand species of these insects. The most famous species of cockroaches are red homemade and huge Madagascar. Paleontologists made a discovery: the fossil remains of cockroaches are the most numerous among insects that were found in the Paleozoic deposits.
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Ants This is not only the most numerous squadamong insects, but also the oldest after cockroaches. According to scientists, the first ants appeared on Earth about 255 million years ago. Their physiological characteristics are almost perfectly adapted to the surrounding climate, which is constantly changing. That is why these insects have existed for several million years in their almost original form. Ants can be found literally everywhere. Modern zoology has described already more than 15 thousand species of these ancient insects, each of which is endowed with its own peculiarities in appearance, in the structure of the body, in the way of life.
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Crocodiles This is one of the oldest reptiles. Archaeologists and paleontologists are sure that these reptiles appeared another 250 million years ago. It is worth noting that these reptiles look no less intimidating than their "companions" - dinosaurs - looked like. In addition, crocodiles - owners of incredibly strong and beautiful skin, the quality of which was appreciated even by the ancient tribes of warriors: crocodile skin was covered with shields, armor was made of it.
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Hatteria This is a special kind of reptile thatis considered to be truly ancient. Hatteria is the only modern representative of the oldest detachment of beak-headed reptiles. Outwardly it resembles an ordinary iguana: along the entire back and tail, a powerful crest formed by triangular scales grows. It should be noted that the appearance of this "old lady" has not changed for more than 200 million years.
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Platypus This is the only mammal,belonging to one modern family - the platypus. Platypus is one of the oldest living creatures on Earth. In addition, this animal is the only one along with the malignant egg-laying mammal. It is estimated that the platypus have been living for more than 110 million years. In addition, during this time they practically did not change, except that they became larger. Scientists have established, and this is believed to be a reliable fact that before the platypuses inhabited South America, but after some time they swam to Australia, where they live to this day.
