STRANGE Prehistoric Creatures That Still Exist

from ancient sharks and reptiles insects that refused to die out here are 27 prehistoric creatures that still exist hey Gavin thanks for letting us know that you liked the content and subscribe we threw a decapod crustacean on the barbie for you otherwise known as a prawn or shrimp aardvark it eats ants but it's not an anteater it bros like a pig but it's not a pig the aardvark is so unique it's the only member of its order and its closest relatives are elephants this animal can be found in the fossil record going back 55 million years ago essentially unchanged from the modern version elephant true there's been a misconception that this critter is a shrew and has been named so due to its nose resembling an elephant's trunk in fact it's not a true shoe at all and it truly is related to the big pachyderms it's also one of the fastest small mammals in the world capable of running up to 18 miles per hour fossil records indicate their ancestors lived around 66 million years ago during the Paleogene period bees these insects are thought to have a period during the Cretaceous period around 100 million years ago their emergence seems to coincide with the first flowering plants that started blooming plus or minus a few million years an estimated 20,000 species of bees are estimated to be buzzing around the world today echidna along with the platypus this animal is identified as one of only two monotremes Porat mammals that lay eggs native to Australia and New Guinea experts think these animals split from the platypus up to 50 million years ago from a common aquatic ancestor echidnas though evolved to live on land Selena Don they come off as small and clumsy this is one of the few mammals to produce its own venom it's also one of the oldest animals on the planet found in the fossil record from 76 million years ago and has basically stayed the same after all that time two species of the animals can be found in the Caribbean purplefrog it may look like a blob with legs but these frogs have been around for at least 100 million years they're found in India but their closest living relatives live on the seashell islands in the Indian Ocean goblin shark this a flea named creature has been haunting the deep waters for a long time experts say it's been around for the past 125 million years or so it's easily identified by its distinctive snout and per true scible jaws filled with male white teeth Chinese giant salamander weighing over a hundred pounds and measuring nearly 6 feet long he ranks as the world's largest amphibian as well as the world's largest salamander it belongs to an ancient family that goes back around 170 million years it's longevity might be in danger though factor is ranging from habitat loss to demand for their use in traditional medicines has made the creatures critically endangered sturgeon because sturgeon fish are harvested for their meat and for their eggs known as caviar they are fairly well known to us but did you know that these fish can live up to a hundred years and that they've been around for more than 200 million years tadpole shrimp these small crustaceans have a history that's pretty large they're fossils have been dated to around 300 million years ago and some species appear to have changed very little over all that time they look similar to horseshoe crabs another group of ancient arthropods on our list cockroaches it seems like nothing can kill these critters they were once among the world's most dominant species around 360 million years ago and were about twice the size of today's version they were around to greet the dinosaurs only to outlast them expect roaches to keep bugging us for a long time to come maybe even after we're gone frilled shark this critter is found across the globe but since it could live at depths around 4000 feet they're often not seen which is the main reason why it wasn't spotted in the wild until 2004 fossil records indicate that the animals were around 95 million years ago but some experts think their ancestry could stretch back as much as 300 million years giant freshwater stingray growing more than 6 feet across and weighing more than 1,300 pounds it's one of the world's largest freshwater fish it's believed to have evolved that unique oval fin disc around 100 million years ago demand for their meat as well as factors including habitat destruction have made the stingrays and endangered species Nautilus they inhabit coral reefs at depths exceeding 2,000 feet in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and they've been doing so for quite a while according to fossil records this mollusk has remained essentially the same over the past 500 million years meaning it survived several mass extinction events and maybe it pays to stay in your shell Palookaville this animal is a recent discovery found in an underwater cave in the Republic of Palau analysis revealed this fish had independently evolved for over 200 million years retaining a short body large head and collar like gill openings some of the eels features such as having fewer than 90 vertebrae are considered older than most ancient fossil remains green sea turtles scientists believe these turtles survived the global extinction thanks to the animals developing a variety of survival techniques that allowed them to adapt and survive bad times they've been around for 200 million years so it must be working basically the turtles can think their instinct to hibernate for their survival when the environment gets too dry or hot these animals dig a mud hole for themselves just wait out the problem Chua tarah these lizards grow about 30 inches long and are native to new zealand if they look like miniature dinosaurs it's because they have a primitive body structure many sources have stated the creatures haven't likely changed much over the course of some 200 million years but there is some recent evidence that may challenge that at any rate researchers say the creatures provide great insights of the evolution of reptiles crocodilians including crocodiles alligators Caymans and girls these fearsome creatures can trace their ancestry back around 250 million years back in those prehistoric days these beasts could grow to immense sizes one species was nicknamed shield croc due to the shield-like formation of its skull which measured more than nine feet experts estimate at the end we'll lived until around 95 million years ago and would have had a total body length of around 70 feet hagfish they do look like slimy eels but many experts don't consider them to be fish the slime is secreted when they're being handled or threatened doesn't seem like this should be worried though the hagfish has been identified from fossils that date back over three hundred and thirty million years lampreys although they have an eel-like appearance these creatures are actually jawless fish and they've got one of the most frightening mouths in the entire animal kingdom the orifice has a funnel shape that contains sharp teeth used to bore into the flesh of their prey to suck out the blood but only certain species engage of that behavior their fossils have been dated back around 360 million years and they seem to have evolved very little in that time sea sponge researchers find it difficult to calculate just how long sea sponges have been around but the oldest fossil of one of these creatures was actually discovered in Iraq that was around 750 million years old horseshoe crab these arthropods managed to outlast the dinosaurs experts have dated these arthropods back to some 450 million years ago and they're pretty much unchanged since then the strange-looking creatures have a hard carapace that protects their body and while they resemble crustaceans they belong to a different sub phylum did you know that these critters have a total of ten eyes platypus we mentioned earlier that the echidna was one of only two memory and species that lay eggs now here's the other one as we said earlier the two animals are thought to have split off from a common ancestor around 50 million years ago but researchers say fossil evidence of that common ancestor had eight back around 110 million years australian ghost shark distantly related to sharks and rays these animals belong to a branch of cartilaginous fish called chimeras when scientists mapped the creatures genome it revealed DNA that's gone basically unchanged for almost 420 million years also known as elephant sharks they are now considered to be the slowest evolving vertebrae's known to date [Music] alligator snapping turtle this looks like it could be a dinosaur emerging from a swamp kind of like something you'd seen one of the giraffe spark movies but the creature the picture does exist in real life although it's not as big as it seems to appear that's not to say the alligator snapping turtle is small though weighing more than 175 pounds they're one of the world's heaviest freshwater turtles that's with a carapace that can exceed 30 inches some experts estimate their history goes back more than 150 million years Cielo camp it was once believed that these rare fish went extinct about 65 million years ago but in 1938 they were rediscovered off the coast of South Africa and it turned out this animal was even more durable than originally thought experts think they evolved into their current form around 400 million years ago jellyfish known as steno force these animals showed up some 700 million years ago they propel their gelatinous bodies through the water using rows of cilia or combs biologists claim that these are the oldest known animals which means humans could be descended from these things hopefully we enjoy the same longevity as this so-called living fossil

Channel: Epic Wildlife

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Rating: 4.532691 out of 5

Keywords: strange, prehistoric, creatures, that still exist, ancient, sharks, reptiles, insects, animals, incredible, extinct, unbelievable, strangest, weird, real, true, fake, bizarre, shocking, you won't believe, top, best, evidence, most, list, facts, epic, wildlife, nature, you won't believe still exist, scary, terrifying, scariest prehistoric creatures that are still alive, scariest prehistoric creatures, that are still alive, strange prehistoric creatures that still exist, creatures that still exist, epic wildlife

Id: UgsE8SbobJI

Length: 9min 49sec (589 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 30 2017