stux⚡️Dec 29, 2022
Rare sighting of Tadpole Shrimp, a prehistoric creature that existed on earth for 550 million years
Show threadAttila Kinali

@stux Science nitpick: These are not prehistoric creatures. They are very much modern animals.

And no, they are not the same animals as those that lived millions of years ago. These animals evolved and changed. It's just that the outward look of this particular specimen evolved to be similar to what we think some prehistoric animals might have looked like.

TL;DR: There are no prehistoric creatures alive today. If they are alive, they aren't prehistoric.

Dec 29, 2022 at 10:25amWeb
Show threadTatiana MarroneDec 30, 2022
@attilakinali @stux true but the fossils we have of these guys from way back in the Triassic are considered to be the same genus as the modern ones. I don't know if that's a matter of them needing more study (there seems to be little work regarding them and most of it focuses on their life cycle and figuring out what the eggs can and can't survive), but if it's correct a single genus making it that long with minimal change is impressive.
Show threadAttila KinaliDec 30, 2022

@TatiMarrone @stux That's what I'm saying: there isn't minimal change. There has been minimal change in its outward appearance. The animal itself is for sure very different.

We should note here that form and outward appearance does not say much beside that it's evolved to fit a certain niche. And plenty of unrelated animals have evolved to look very similar because it ended up being advantageous for a class of niches. Most notable here is carcinisation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcinisation

Carcinisation - Wikipedia