11 Prehistoric Animals Still Living in American Water That Should Have Died With the Dinosaurs
The wild never left. It just got quiet. There is an animal living in American water right now that hasn't meaningfully changed its body in 360 million years. To put that in perspective: 360 million years ago there were no dinosaurs, no birds, no flowers, no snakes, and no trees as we'd recognize them - and this animal was already finished. We talk about prehistoric animals like they're gone, safely behind museum glass. They aren't. In this countdown we rank 11 prehistoric animals still living in American lakes, rivers, swamps and coastlines, ranked by how far back their design reaches - from the alligator to a jawless blood-feeder that predates the dinosaurs by over 100 million years. Which of these did you have no idea was still alive? Drop it in the comments. SOURCES: Digital Atlas of Ancient Life - sturgeon family (Acipenseridae) dates to the Triassic, 245-208 million years ago Science / Yale University (Brownstein, Near, MacGuigan, 2024) - gars have the slowest rate of molecular evolution of all jawed vertebrates; lineages separated 100+ million years can still hybridize National Geographic / Live Science - gar lineage ~150 million years Shedd Aquarium - paddlefish ~125 million years; alligator snapping turtle ~90 million years; sea lamprey 360+ million years NCBI / Middle Triassic horseshoe crab study - anatomical conservatism over 240+ million years National Wildlife Federation - horseshoe crab lineage 300+ million years Chinese paddlefish declared extinct 2022; American paddlefish is the last surviving paddlefish species Bowfin (Amia calva) - sole surviving species of the order Amiiformes (Jurassic) DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational and entertainment purposes. Many species featured are protected, threatened, or endangered - including sturgeon, paddlefish, hellbenders, and alligator snapping turtles. Always check and follow local wildlife regulations, and never remove or handle protected species. ------------------------------------------------- HASHTAGS: #LivingFossils #PrehistoricAnimals #Sturgeon #AlligatorGar #Paddlefish #HorseshoeCrab #Hellbender #Wildlife #Nature #NaturalHistory #Freshwater #DeepTime
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