10 Prehistoric Creatures That Still Exist Today
Published in Entertainment at April 13th, 2017 at 8:56 AM
Forget the t-rex or the triceratops, we have dinosaurs roaming our planet to this very day. This list looks at the animals we can call dinosaurs and not feel stupid about it.
Lamprey
This thing is real and its called a lamprey. Yes, it does look like an eel or water snake and its not all that damaging of an animal to look at. But then you see this things mouth and you realise its like something from Star Wars and could eat jedi's like eating popcorn.
The lamprey have actual teeth that bite and injure their prey and humans too. The oldest lamprey fossil found in South Africa dates back to some 360 million years ago but its striking resemblance with the modern specimens is indisputable.
Some species will suck the blood right out of their victims and this giant one was caught in a river in eastern USA, it took some shot to nab it with a crossbow.
The Giant Chinese Salamander
This is the giant chinese salamander and it looks more like a pokemon than anything. This one was filmed by a kid as he walked home from school.
If you are under 5'9 and lay next to the biggest of these beasts, it'd be longer than you are tall so best to stay upright when by them because
They have some seriously big mouths. You wouldn't want to get stuck in there but fear not, they're not carnivores. Their lineage goes back an incredible 170 million years but it appears to be almost extinct and mainly because of humans. We're turning out to be more of a plague to dinosaurs than that giant meteor that landed!
The Martialis Heureka Ant
This little guy is the Martialis heureka ant and it wasn't known to exist until 2000; the reason for that is they live completely under ground and are 100% blind. They create these huge and insanely massive tunnel systems like the ones here and spend their lives underground, waiting for food and the likes to come to them. These guys belong to one of the oldest traceable gene pools and the martialis heureka ant is estimated to have roamed our planet for about 120 million years.
Goblin Shark
this isn't a photoshop, i repeat, this isnt a photoshop. This is the real life goblin shark, so named because of its disgustingly sharp beak like nose. These things can reach 4m in length when fully grown and because it lurks in the deepest parts of the ocean, little is actually known about it. One thing is for sure, it has one of the most terrifying ways to eat prey possible.
Just....look....at....this. Its bizarre, scary appearance suggests the creature has its origins in prehistoric era; the first direct ancestors of goblin shark lived as early as 125 million years ago
The alligator snapping turtle is found in southeastern United States waters, which means they existed in the same areas as long back as 75 million years ago. They actually look like they could be this old too and they're very, very grumpy. Do not approach or pick up one of these guys because their jaws are insanely powerful. They can break bones and chop off fingers with one swift chomp.
The giant freshwater stingray is one of the largest fish in the world and can measure a crazy 6 foot 2 in its width and weigh an insane 600kg. The distinctive oval part of the fish is actually its fins and its estimated they evolved over 100 million years ago.
The problem with being this big is that you are easily spotted and due to the ridiculous idea that this animals flesh contains healing properties, its been fished to near extinction in the Asian territories. They are completely harmless and don't attack unless provoked and would usually swim away.
Not the scariest, not the biggest and not anything but weird looking, the platypus is easily the funniest of all the animals here. Lets just go over the facts here
Its got a beak like a duck, its got feet like an otter, the body and tail of a beaver and it lays eggs like a reptile. That is straight up crazy. The first platypus ancestor line dates back almost 170 million years and even now its a sight to behold.
No list would be complete of prehistoric creatures that still roam the planet without the crocodile.
If you gave these guys longer legs they'd be the poster boy for dinosaurs the world over.
They reach incredible sizes and possess mammoth strength in their jaws and body and will eat anything that crosses their paths. The date of evolution for these animals goes back to around 250 million years ago. These guys are the old guys of the animal kingdom
The frilled shark is nothing like what we think of when he imagine sharks, they resemble a real alien like being.
They live about 50-200m below the surface and belongs to one of the oldest still-existent shark lineages, dating back to at least 95 million years ago and possibly even 150 million years ago. Its teeth are curled backward to stop prey escaping which, luckily for us, is not humans!
Starting off small, but not quite the smallest on this list, is the tadpole shrimp. Guess why its called that? If you said because its a shrimp that looks like a tadpole then you'd be right.
In an attempt to look the most like a prehistoric being that it can be, the tadpole shrimp is like a Frisbee made of rock with a tail. These guys like in freshwater and are crustaceans just like prawns and shrimps are. Its considered a living fossil because its basic prehistoric morphology has changed little in the last 70 million years, exactly matching the bodies of their ancient ancestors
