Species 'living fossils' existed since the time of the dinosaurs

Some animals appeared on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, overcoming extinction events to survive today.

Arrange sharks are one of the oldest living creatures on Earth.(Photo: MNN).

Sharks are very successful evolutionary animals. They live in the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago. Strange sharks often reside in the deep sea so humans rarely see them. Earlier this month, scientists caught a shark carrying a 1.5 meter long and 300 sharp teeth in Portugal.

Today's sharks are very similar to their fossils 80 million years ago. They retain many original features such as dark brown eel-like bodies with dorsal, pelvic and anal fins at the end of the body.

Rare hand-caught finfish found in Malindi, Kenya.(Photo: Newsweek).

Handfin is the mascot of the International Museum of Mystical Creatures. This big, night sky-colored fish used to be classified as a mysterious creature, only through the accounts of witnesses that science has not yet confirmed, like the Loch Ness monster. However, experts later discovered live finfish or just died, proving that they are actually existing in the oceans.

Scientists found some fossils of similar animals dating back 400 million years, while dinosaurs only appeared 230 million years ago, meaning that the finfish survive throughout the dinosaur period. and the period of mammals that is almost unchanged.

Toothed shrews have long noses and often eat insects.(Photo: Newsweek).

Experts discovered many evidence that the shrew tooth shrews lived at the same time as dinosaurs. They have the scientific name of solenodon, belonging to the group of mammals, often eat insects and live at night. They can also use venom to attack prey. Today, the tooth-shrew shrews live mainly in Haiti and Dominica.

Sam America

Sam My appeared long before the dinosaur era.(Photo: Newsweek).

Sam America is one of the oldest living creatures on Earth. Sam My appeared about 450 million years ago, during the Ordovician period, and evolved into the form it is today. Sam My lives mainly in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast in North America.