3 'water monsters' existed in life before dinosaurs appeared

Over hundreds of millions of years, these sea monsters have not even changed their appearance compared to their ancestors.

About 230 million years ago, dinosaurs began to branch from their ancestors and began to dominate the ground.

But they are not the first species to appear, but that title belongs to some aquatic species. And in it, there are creatures that deserve to be called "living fossils", believe it or not, over hundreds of millions of years they remain unchanged from their ancestors.

Which creatures are they? The list of those monsters is right below.

1. Sardines (Lamprey - 200 million years)

The appearance of the rocky grouper itself is enough to make the name "water monster" not a fame. But more importantly, they are on the list of the oldest monsters, when science estimates they existed at least 200 million years ago.

Sardines.

Rocky grouper has a long cylindrical body similar to eel and can grow up to 120cm and weighs up to 2.3 kg.

Because of their non-jaw-like fish, their mouths are full of teeth, which are arranged in a spiral-shaped circle that covers the entire palate.

According to the scientific community, the texture is especially suitable for rocky grouper, because they are blood-sucking fish. When they encounter opportunities, they will cling to the body of the prey, swirling their teeth into it until the victim has to turn on blood.

Moreover, the mechanism of sucking blood of stalagmites is quite similar to mosquitoes: both species are equipped with anticoagulant chemicals in saliva, to ensure that their "meals" are not lumpy.

The terrifying teeth of the grouper.

However, this fish is particularly dangerous in that its bite can cause prey to lose blood to unconsciousness and death. In addition, they are ready to attack people if disturbed.

But despite that appearance, this fish is considered a "delicacy" in some countries such as the United Kingdom, even before it was only for kings.

For example, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth once enjoyed a salmon cake in celebration of 50 years of reign.

2. Horseshoe crab (Horseshoe crab - 400 million years)

Over 400 million years, they still retain the characteristics, sizes and shapes inherent from ancient times.

Like the finfish, horseshoe crabs (also known as pawns or females in Vietnam) are also a living fossil. Over 400 million years, they still retain the characteristics, sizes and shapes inherent from ancient times.

These crabs live in mud terraces. Known as crabs, they are actually closer to spider-legged animals (like spiders or scorpions).

There is a special feature of the horseshoe crab, also known as the "hippie god", because they look like there are 3 eyes - 2 double eyes and a white eye in the middle. But in fact, they have up to 4 muscle eyes: 2 eyes protruding on either side of the body, the remaining 2 eyes in the middle of the head and placed quite close together.

3. Coelacanth (410 million years)

By 410 million years ago, the first hand fin fish had appeared, and because of that, for a very long time, science had assumed that they had become extinct with dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Template of the fish in 1938.

But things suddenly changed in 1938, when a flesh-and-bone fish suddenly appeared on the Chalumna River (now Tyolomnqa River) in South Africa. The person who found it was Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer - in charge member of the museum in East London, South Africa.

When examining marine fish samples caught in 1938, she noticed an unusual specimen, not appearing in any books, including the museum's documents.

Eventually, she was forced to make fish specimens and send them to Professor James Leonard Brieley Smith. Smith immediately realized that it was an animal-fin fin which was only studied on fossil specimens.

Science later called the fish "living fossil", with the scientific name Latimeria chalumnae to record her merit.

In general, today's hand-caught fish are no different from their ancestors. It can be up to 1.8 meters long, accompanied by an extremely solid fin covering the whole body. Some theories suggest that dinosaurs are due to the evolution of finfish.