What are the organisms called living fossils? It is a creature that is about to become extinct

The living fossils of plants include ginkgo, metasequoia, silver fir, water pine, and yew.

Living fossils of animals.

Giant panda, Chinese alligator.

Living fossils, which can be vaguely called relict organisms, refer to any organism whose analogous species exist only in fossils, and there are no other extant similar species. These species once survived major extinction events and retain their original characteristics from the past. Some of the ancient species of living organisms that exist are non-scientific terms.

The definition of a living fossil is generally the discovery of a fossil before the discovery of a living body, or the existence of a living body of the same genus as the identified fossil. Living fossils refer to species that have a long origin, with a wide distribution in the Tertiary or earlier of the Cenozoic Era, and most of the species have been extinct due to geological and climatic changes, and the shape of these existing organisms is basically the same as that found in fossils, retaining the original shape of their ancient ancestors. Most of its relatives are extinct and relatively isolated, and organisms that evolve slowly can be called relict organisms or living fossils.

As a result, some ancient creatures that lasted for tens of millions of years were formed, and other creatures of the same era have long been extinct, and only they have survived alone, adapted to the modern environment, and lived in an extremely small area, known as "living fossils".

Among the biological diversity of the high school entrance examination, there are some living fossils that are commonly examined.

The living fossils of plants are ginkgo, metasequoia, dove tree, and alder.

The living fossils of animals are pandas, Chinese alligators, and Chinese sturgeons.

China has a long history, there are many animals and plants known for living fossils in China, the plants known as living fossils are ginkgo, and the animals known as living fossils are Chinese alligators, national treasure pandas, giant salamanders, and Chinese sturgeons.

Giant pandas

Giant panda must be familiar to every Chinese, as a unique national treasure animal in China, in fact, giant pandas have survived on the earth for more than 8 million years, which means that the history of giant pandas is actually longer than humans.

Chinese sturgeon

In addition to pandas, China's Chinese sturgeon has a long history of more than 100 million years, and there are not many fish in the world that are so old and long, and they are also protected animals in China. Some scientists say that the Chinese sturgeon actually has a very high scientific research value, because some traces of biological evolution can be seen from the Chinese sturgeon.

Alligator

The number of Chinese crocodiles in the world is particularly small, and it is a kind of crocodile unique to China, and the Chinese alligator is often called the pig Po dragon in the folk Tongling Mausoleum, which is now endangered.

Giant salamander

This animal is huge, the whole body can be up to one meter, or about one meter, the weight can reach more than 100 catties, and it looks a bit like a lizard, but it is fatter and flatter than a lizard. This animal generally lives in waters with relatively clear water and low sediment content.

Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba also has a name called the white fruit tree, which is also one of the living fossils in China, and in ancient times ginkgo was also called the duck's foot tree or the Gongsun tree. Compared with many plants, ginkgo biloba is actually a higher plant, his history is very long, it has lived on this earth for more than 170 million years, just like dinosaurs, at that time all over the world, and then the dinosaurs became extinct, but ginkgo biloba is very rare in China.

1. "Living fossils of plants in the age of dinosaurs" and "king of ferns" - alder;

Living fossils of the same era as the dinosaurs, the "fairy shrimp" that has existed for 200 million years - the branchworm;

Coelacanth is one of the oldest fish species in the world and is considered a living fossil. Once thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, it was rediscovered in 1938 and the coelacanth became known as the "living fossil of the age of dinosaurs".

Coelacanths appear in 3

500 million years ago, it was extremely abundant on Earth;

Living fossil "three-eyed dinosaur shrimp - Jiapeng horseshoe crab;

A new species of eel of the same era as the dinosaurs - protoanguillapalau (the first eel).

Before 1938, the zoological community knew that this creature was extinct in the mass extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and people can only see the fossils of coelacanth in museums. But after 1938, people continued to discover the existence of coelacanths, and finally found a large school of coelacanths in a small fishing village, at this time zoologists suddenly realized that this animal has never been extinct, they have witnessed the extinction of dinosaurs, and their own race continues to breed in the ocean.

The second animal is our national treasure giant panda, although the history of the giant panda on the earth is not very long, but it has a full 8 million years, and most importantly, in this million years, the giant panda has not undergone any major changes, which makes the fossils unearthed by paleontologists are the same as the giant pandas that are alive today, saying that they are living fossils worthy of the name.

The third animal is an animal that lives in the ocean, its name is Nautilus, the history of the nautilus on the earth is 500 million years, in 500 million years, some close relatives of the nautilus have begun to evolve in the direction that is conducive to their survival, only the nautilus has hardly changed, and now the nautilus has become the oldest and lowest mollusk on the earth, Tong Bibi, its existence has important research significance for biologists to count the stoves, we should note that the nautilus is a national first-class protected animal.

The fourth animal is the only blue-blooded creature on the earth, it is the Chinese horseshoe crab, which has lived on the earth for at least 300 million years, the Chinese horseshoe crab mainly lives in the coastal shallows, and their existence has saved hundreds of millions of people on the earth, because the blood of the Chinese horseshoe crab is of great help to human medical treatment. Therefore, among the living fossil animals, the situation of the Chinese horseshoe crab is also one of the worst animals, and the number of Chinese horseshoe crabs has reached an endangered state.

The fifth animal is the horseshoe crab, it also has another name called dinosaur shrimp, because this animal can be said to be the existence of the dinosaur from life to death, the horseshoe crab witnessed the rise and extinction of the dinosaurs, they have experienced three biological extinctions, each time has become the ultimate survivor, and the horseshoe crab is a large number of animals, and can also be parthenogenesis, even if only the last one is left, it can reproduce a large family, maybe human extinction, this animal is still happy to continue to breed on the earth.

1. Ginkgo biloba.

Ginkgo biloba trees are male and female, male.

Du's ginkgo tree only grows male dao flowers, and female ginkgo trees only grow female flowers, and only after fertilization will produce round white fruits.

Ginkgo biloba is the only surviving species of gymnosperms Ginkgo biloba. Wild ginkgo biloba can still be seen in the area of Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang. Therefore, ginkgo biloba is known as a "living fossil" and a "panda" among plants.

2. Metasequoia. Metasequoia is a deciduous and coniferous tree. It is one of the rare and precious plants in ancient times, and is a first-class protected plant in China.

3. Dove tree. Morphological characteristics of deciduous trees. The leaves are alternate, papery, broadly ovate, with sharply serrated margins. The flowers are heterogeneous, consisting of many male flowers and one bisexual flower forming a terminal capitate inflorescence.

Flowering period: April to May. The flower shape resembles a pigeon spreading its wings, the white bracts resemble the wings of a pigeon, the dark red head inflorescence is like the head of a pigeon, the stigma of green and yellow is like the beak of a pigeon, and when it is in full bloom, it is like a flock of pigeons perching on a tree, and is known as the "Chinese pigeon tree" in the world.

4. Fragrant fruit trees.

Deciduous trees. The leaves are opposite, stalked; Leaves broadly elliptic or broadly ovate-elliptic, entire; The leaves are triangular-ovate and early falling. The inflorescences are arranged in the form of panicles of the neck; The flowers are large, pale yellow, and have stalks.

5. Chinese sturgeon.

The Chinese sturgeon has a long life cycle, with a maximum lifespan of 40 years. It is a first-class key protected wild animal in China, and it is also a living fossil, known as the "giant panda in the water". It has high scientific, medicinal and ornamental value.

It is found in China, Japan, South Korea, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and North Korea.

Creatures known as living fossils: Ginkgo biloba, Metasequoia, Dove tree, Fruit tree, Giant panda, Chinese sturgeon, La.

Netimai fish, alligator, etc.

Brief introduction of living fossils;

Living fossils are the result of a long-term failure to advance evolution, branch evolution, or interruption of lineage in a certain line of phylogeny, but to be in a state of stagnant evolution, and are still extant species. With the same habitat and extremely low survival rate, these organisms have barely changed over millions of years. As a result, some ancient creatures that lasted for tens of millions of years were formed, and other creatures of the same era have long been extinct, and only they have survived alone, living in an extremely small area, called "living fossils". Reference.

Chinese tree species known as "living fossils" include: ginkgo, silver fir, dove tree, fragrant fruit tree, etc.

Animals that are known as "living fossils" in China include: the giant panda, a national treasure, and the Chinese sturgeon, a "living fossil" in the water.

Creatures known as living fossils: ginkgo, metasequoia, dove tree, fragrant fruit tree, giant panda, Chinese sturgeon, Latimai fish, Chinese alligator, etc. Live.