According to the latest research by scientists from the University of California, life began on Earth 4.1 million years ago, 300 million years after the planet formed. By the standards of space, this is almost immediately. And immediately after the appearance, life slowly but surely began to capture every piece of space. After trillions of generations and mutations, those life forms appeared that we can observe in our time. Of course, evolution continues and will not end until the destruction of the globe by the overgrown Sun.
Over millions and millions of years, life has taken many forms, sizes and types, many of which looked so alien that they seem alien to us. And the deeper you dig into history, the more strange these species may seem. Despite constant change, many species of living organisms have not changed hundreds of centuries later, having outlived the dinosaurs.
Cyanobacteria - 3.5 billion years old
If you want to express gratitude for your existence, feel free to contact cyanobacteria. They are sometimes called blue-green algae. These tiny creatures did the almost impossible: they changed the chain of chemical reactions on the surface of planet Earth, making it possible for more complex organisms to inhabit it. Cyanobacteria were the first to use photosynthesis, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere as a waste product. This event is known as the "Great Oxygenation". Although it is worth thanking the cyanobacteria for our existence, the active growth of the population of these organisms led to the fact that they replaced all other types of anaerobic organisms, which simply became extinct.
Colonies of cyanobacteria in a photograph from orbit
Having become the dominant species on the planet, cyanobacteria released an enormous amount of oxygen, which, when combined with methane, created carbon dioxide. This led to a change in the temperature environment, which, in turn, became a threat to the life of the bacterium itself. Help suddenly came from living organisms, for which the oxygen atmosphere became comfortable. In fact, the chloroplast in modern plants is a symbiotic organism from colonies of cyanobacteria, united into a single system back in the Precambrian era. And by the way: since that time, only one species of living beings has been able to influence the environment so radically. And you relate to him.
Sponges - 760 million years
Let's rewind a significant period of time: we have an ordinary sea sponge in front of us. It took epochs for bacteria to evolve into something more complex. At the moment, there are about 5,000 types of sponges. Although they look like plants, sponges are animals. The most ancient species is Otavia Antiqua, found in the rocks of the Namibian desert. This species was widespread in this area (then still under water) approximately 760 million years ago. The size of fossils does not exceed the diameter of a grain of sand. However, these sponges were the first multicellular living organisms and the ancestors of all living organisms that can be classified as "animals".
One of the most common types of sponges
The discovery of the Otavia Antiqua fossils proved that complex organisms appeared on the planet earlier than expected (prior to this discovery, it was believed that multicellular creatures appeared 600 million years ago). These data are consistent with the "molecular clock" theory: all variants of the DNA sequence, regardless of their complexity, develop and evolve at a relatively permanent and stable rate. And according to this theory, the first complex living organism should have appeared 750 million years ago.
Jellyfish - 505 million years
550 million years ago, life on the planet was scarce: the land was deserted, and microbes and sponges dominated the ocean. However, then an event called the "Cambrian explosion" occurred, the duration of which was several million years, and completely changed the appearance of the Earth. In this short, from the point of view of geology, period, a huge number of diverse species of living organisms appeared, some of which became the first predators. There were two reasons, according to modern scientists: evolution and oxygen saturation. Species began to fight for survival. We can say that it was then that the "arms race" began, which has not stopped until now.
As you know, the soft tissues of living organisms are rarely fossilized, but in 2007, scientists managed to find the imprint of the most ancient jellyfish. On the plains of Utah, 4 species of jellyfish were found that lived in this area more than 500 million years ago (when the ocean was still here, of course). During this time, jellyfish have not changed much: the same bell-shaped body, tourniquets and tentacles. At the same time, jellyfish inhabited the earth 200 million years before we imagined.
Horseshoe crabs - 455 million years
Horseshoe crabs, like no other, fit the title of "animated fossil." They resemble crabs, but are actually arachnids, which means spiders and scorpions are closest to them. With little change in habitat, these ancient creatures have changed little over the past 455 million years.
Horseshoe crabs have existed in the ocean ecosystem for so long that the survival of dozens of species of living creatures directly depends on them: the female lays about 90,000 eggs, but only 10 of them give new life, while the rest become food for other organisms.
The external structure of horseshoe crabs
The blood of horseshoe crabs has a blue color, since it contains a lot of copper, which is oxidized when interacting with salt water. They lack the white blood cells that are supposed to fight infection. Nevertheless, their body has learned to localize the disease, not allowing it to spread throughout the body - again, due to the specific composition of the blood. There is nothing surprising in the fact that on the black market of medicines, swordtail blood can cost up to $ 15,000 per liter!
Frilled Sharks - 450 million years old
These creatures are equally elusive and terrifying. Real monsters from the depths of the ocean. This species of shark lives in deep layers of water along the coast in many climatic zones of the planet. The first two specimens caught were described in 1881. They were found in Tokyo Bay. There is a version that it was the frilled shark that became the mythical sea serpent that frightened sailors for centuries. Be that as it may, this species is one of the oldest. These relatively small fish (can reach one and a half meters in length) are extremely rarely shown to people. It was possible to observe them in their natural habitat only in 2004.
Although the frilled shark resembles a mummified snake, its mouth is truly terrible: it contains 300 sharp teeth equipped with serrations. Although scientists have not yet seen a frilled shark on the hunt, there is a theory according to which the predator attracts marine life with white fangs, and then attacks with lightning speed, like a land snake. Another great fact about this creature is that the frilled shark's gestation period is twice that of the African elephant, at 42 months. According to ichthyologists, this is due to deep sea pressure.
Neolectomycetes - 400 million years
Until 1969, fungi belonged to the plant kingdom. This is not surprising: they have a stem, a root system, static, ways to obtain nutrients. However, later it turned out that they have much more in common with animals, so fungi were assigned to a separate biological kingdom. It just so happens that mushrooms are the first complex organisms that came to land. This happened approximately 450 million years ago. Tortotubus is the most ancient species found among the fossils.
One of the oldest living fossils
How did mushrooms help other species adapt to terrestrial life? They created all those nutrients, thanks to which the top layer of rocks became soil saturated with oxygen and nitrogen.
Neolectomycetes, complex fungi, appeared on the planet 400 million years ago. The closest relatives of this species are yeasts. However, the very fact that this species has lived on Earth for so long and is distributed throughout the planet speaks of its incredible vitality (it even survived the separation of the continents and all global extinctions).
Coelacanths - 360 million years
Not so long ago, coelacanths were considered an extinct species of lobe-finned fish, the ancestors of amphibians. The oldest discovered fossil is 360 million years old, the youngest is 80 million years old. In connection with the finds, scientists concluded that this species died during the dinosaurs (about 65 million years ago). Imagine the surprise of the scientific community when, in 1938, a live specimen was caught off the coast of South Africa! The species has been named Latimeria Chalumnae. Then, another species was found near Indonesia. At the moment, only two species of coelacanths have been discovered, but during their heyday there were more than 90 of them.
Alcoholic specimen kept in the British Museum
Coelacanths differ from other species of living fish: they have a special organ with which they sense the electromagnetic field of other living beings. This is the perfect weapon for hunting in pitch darkness. In addition, the jaws are also attached to the skull in such a way that the coelacanth can open its mouth much wider than other fish (the design is somewhat reminiscent of a swing). The fins of the coelacanths are also remarkable - they have bone support, so the fish can even lean on them. In further evolutionary development, it was this design that turned into paws and legs.
Ginkgo tree - 270 million years old
Gingko biloba is the oldest plant species still living on the planet. Like neolects, ginkgo has no close relatives among the representatives of the fauna. Gingkos are closest to the cycad family, which appeared 360 million years ago.
Ginkgo biloba is a special kind of plant
Most of the fossilized remains of gingko biloba were found in Uzbekistan. Excavations have proved that the species flourished during the Jurassic period (206-144 million years ago). The climate change that occurred 65 million years ago killed not only giant lizards: of several species, only gingko biloba survived, which now grows only in a few local zones in China. This species is characterized by extreme vitality and longevity: the oldest tree, the Maidenhair Tree, is three and a half thousand years old.
Platypuses - 120 million years
Of course, the platypus is the strangest living creature living on the planet. We can say that platypuses are something between animals, birds and reptiles. A hybrid worthy of a separate book in a medieval bestiary. It is a mammal, as it has mammary glands to feed its young. But babies hatch from eggs. Only platypuses and echidnas found in Australia and New Guinea have this birth method. Beak and fur are a wonderful combination. Add to this the way reptiles move and the poisonous spikes on the elbows. In addition, this species does not have two pairs of chromosomes (XX and XY), but as many as five! If there are alien creatures on Earth, then platypuses (and octopuses) can be attributed to them.
Scientists believe that monotremes became a separate species about 120 million years ago and have evolved slowly since then due to their slow metabolism and respiration rate. In addition, the habitats were little affected by the division of the ecosystem according to the predator / herbivore system - in the natural environment, platypuses simply have no enemies.
Martian ants (Martialis Heureka) - 120 million years old
So named for their cosmic appearance, the Martialis Heureka became a separate species 120 million years ago. This is the oldest species of ants, discovered only in 2003 in the virgin forests of the Amazon.
Martian ant up close
This species is close to wasps like no other, and its appearance is very far from the appearance of other ants (which is why scientists gave it such a “talking” name).
The absence of eyes and the pale color give a clue - this is an underground creature that comes to the surface only at night. The basis of its diet are the soft-bodied larvae of other insects, such as termites.
The Earth still has many unexplored corners in the depths of the waters, polar ice, wild jungles and hot deserts. And it is possible that soon many species of living beings that were considered extinct will again declare their existence. For example, a plesiosaur named Nessie.
Below is a list of 10 amazingly hardy creatures that are able to survive in conditions in which no other creature can survive.
Jumping spiders are a family of spiders containing more than 500 genera and about 5,000 species, which is approximately 13% of all spider species. Jumping spiders have very good eyesight and are also capable of jumping far beyond their body size. These active diurnal hunters are widely distributed throughout the world, including deserts, rainforests and mountains. In 1975, a representative of this family was discovered even at the peak of the highest mountain in the world - Everest.
Ninth on the list is the Giant Jumping Kangaroo, a rodent that is endangered and found only in the state of California, USA. Its life expectancy is 2-4 years. For all his short life, the rodent is able to do without a single drop of drinking water. They get the moisture necessary for existence from food, and this is mainly seeds.
Pompeii worm (Alvinella pompejana)
The Pompeii worm is a species of deep sea worm that was discovered in the early 1980s in the Pacific Northeast. These pale gray worms can grow up to 13 cm in length. The Pompeian worm remained unexplored for a long time, since when trying to raise it to the surface, it inevitably died. This is explained by the fact that during the ascent, the usual pressure for the Pompeian worm decreased. However, recently French scientists, with the help of special equipment that maintained the necessary pressure of the environment, managed to deliver several individuals to the laboratory alive and healthy. It turned out that these worms are able to survive at rather high temperatures. The optimum temperature for them is 42 ° C, but when heated to 50-55 ° C, the worm died.
Greenland sharks are among the largest and least studied sharks in the world. They live in the waters of the North Atlantic at a temperature of 1–12 ° C and a depth of up to 2,200 meters, at which the approximate pressure is 220 atmospheres, or about 9,700 kilograms per square centimeter. Greenland polar sharks are very slow, their average speed is 1.6 km / h, and the maximum is 2.7 km / h, hence the second name “sleeping sharks”. They feed on almost everything they can catch. The largest individuals of these sharks can reach up to 7.3 m and weigh up to 1.5 tons, but the average length varies from 2.44 to 4.8 m, and the average weight does not exceed 400 kg. Their exact lifespan is unknown, although there is a theory that they can live up to 200 years. It is one of the longest living animals on the planet.
For decades, scientists believed that only single-celled organisms could survive at very great depths underground due to high pressure, lack of oxygen, and extreme temperatures. However, after these multicellular organisms were discovered in 2011 by Gaetan Borgoni and Tallis Onstott in ore at the Beatrix and Prefontaine gold mines in South Africa at depths of 0.9 km, 1.3 km and 3.6 km under the Earth's surface , the hypothesis was refuted. The discovered worms, 0.52–0.56 mm long, lived in small accumulations of water at a temperature of 48 ° C. Halicephalobus mephisto is possibly the deepest living multicellular organism on the planet.
Some types of frogs were found literally frozen, but with the onset of spring, they "thawed" and continued their vital activity. There are five known species of these frogs in North America. The most common is the tree frog, which, in order to overwinter, simply hides under the leaves and freezes. The most interesting thing is that during such hibernation, the frog's heart stops.
Many people know that the deepest point of the World Ocean, as well as the least explored place on the planet, is the Mariana Trench, 11 km deep, where the pressure is about 1072 times the normal atmospheric pressure. In 2011, scientists using a high-resolution camera and a modern bathyscaphe discovered giant amoebas at a depth of 10,641 meters, which are several times larger (10 cm) than their relatives.
Bdelloidea
Bdelloidea is an animal of the rotifer class that lives in fresh water, damp soil, and wet moss throughout the world. They are microscopic organisms, the length of which does not exceed 150–700 microns (0.15–0.7 mm). They are invisible to the naked eye, but when viewed through a magnifying glass, the Bdelloidea animal can be seen as small white dots. They are able to survive in harsh, dry conditions due to anhydrobiosis, a condition that allows the animal's body to rapidly dehydrate and thus resist desiccation. As it turned out, in this state the animal is able to stay up to 9 years, waiting for favorable conditions for the return. Interestingly, not a single male representative has yet been found since the discovery.
cockroach
A popular myth says that in the event of a nuclear war, the only survivors on Earth will be cockroaches. Not surprisingly, they are considered one of the hardiest insects, able to live without food and water for one month. And the lethal dose of radiation for these insects is 6-15 times greater than, for example, for humans. However, they are still not as resistant to radiation as, for example, fruit flies. The found cockroach fossils show that they lived 295-354 million years ago, thus ahead of the dinosaurs, although these cockroaches certainly differed in appearance from modern cockroaches.
Tardigrades are microscopic animals first described by the German pastor Johann August Ephraim Götze in 1773. They are distributed throughout the world, including the ocean floor and the polar regions at the equator. Most often inhabited by lichen and moss pillows. The body size of these translucent invertebrates is 0.1-1.5 mm. Tardigrades have incredible stamina. Scientists have found that tardigrades are able to survive for several minutes at a temperature of 151 ° C, and can also live for several days at a temperature of minus 200 ° C. They also succumbed to radiation of 570,000 roentgens, and approximately 50% of tardigrades remained alive (for humans, a lethal dose of 500 roentgens). They were also placed in a special high-pressure chamber filled with water and exposed to 6,000 atmospheres, which is 6 times more than the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench - the animals remained alive. There is a known case when moss, taken from the desert about 120 years after its drying up, was placed in water, and one of the tardigrades living in it showed signs of life.
For those who are not interested in animals, but are looking for where to buy a cheap gift for the New Year, the Groupon promo code will definitely come in handy.Some organisms, when compared with others, have a number of undeniable advantages, for example, the ability to withstand extremely high or low temperatures. There are a lot of such hardy living creatures in the world. In the article below you will get acquainted with the most amazing of them. Without exaggeration, they are able to survive even in extreme conditions.
1. Himalayan jumping spiders
Mountain geese are known to be among the highest flying birds in the world. They are able to fly at an altitude of more than 6 thousand meters above the ground.
Do you know where the highest settlement on Earth is located? In Peru. This is the city of La Rinconada, located in the Andes near the border with Bolivia at an altitude of about 5100 meters above sea level.
Meanwhile, the record for the highest living creatures on planet Earth went to the Himalayan jumping spiders Euophrys omnisuperstes (Euophrys omnisuperstes - “over all”), which live in secluded nooks and crevices on the slopes of Mount Everest. Climbers found them even at an altitude of 6700 meters. These tiny spiders feed on insects that are blown to the top of the mountain by strong winds. They are the only living creatures that permanently live at such a great height, apart from, of course, some species of birds. It is also known that Himalayan jumping spiders are able to survive even in conditions of lack of oxygen.
2. Giant kangaroo jumper
When we are asked to name an animal that can go without drinking water for long periods of time, the first thing that comes to mind is the camel. However, in the desert without water, it can last no more than 15 days. And no, camels do not store water in their humps, as many mistakenly believe. Meanwhile, on Earth there are still such animals that live in the desert and are able to live without a single drop of water throughout their lives!
Giant jumping kangaroos are related to beavers. Their life span is three to five years. Giant kangaroo jumpers get water with food, and they feed mainly on seeds.
Giant kangaroo jumpers, as scientists note, do not sweat at all, so they do not lose, but, on the contrary, accumulate water in the body. You can find them in Death Valley (California). Giant jumping kangaroos are currently endangered.
3. Worms resistant to high temperatures
Since water conducts heat away from the human body about 25 times more efficiently than air, a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius in the depths of the sea will be much more dangerous than on land. That is why bacteria thrive under water, and not multicellular organisms that cannot withstand too high temperatures. But there are exceptions...
Marine deep-sea annelid worms Paralvinella sulfincola (Paralvinella sulfincola), which live near hydrothermal vents on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, are perhaps the most heat-loving living creatures on the planet. The results of an experiment conducted by scientists with heating the aquarium showed that these worms prefer to settle where the temperature reaches 45-55 degrees Celsius.
4 Greenland Shark
Greenland sharks are one of the largest living creatures on planet Earth, but scientists know almost nothing about them. They swim very slowly, on par with the average amateur swimmer. However, it is almost impossible to see the Greenland sharks in the ocean waters, since they usually live at a depth of 1200 meters.
Greenland sharks are also considered the most cold-loving creatures in the world. They prefer to live in places where the temperature reaches 1-12 degrees Celsius.
Greenland sharks live in cold waters, therefore, they have to conserve energy; this explains the fact that they swim very slowly - at a speed of no more than two kilometers per hour. Greenland sharks are also called "sleeping sharks". In food, they are not picky: they eat everything that they can catch.
According to some scientists, the life expectancy of the Greenland polar sharks can reach 200 years, but so far this has not been proven.
5. Devil Worms
For decades, scientists thought that only single-celled organisms could survive at very great depths. It was believed that multicellular life forms could not live there due to lack of oxygen, pressure and high temperatures. However, more recently, researchers have discovered microscopic worms at a depth of several thousand meters from the earth's surface.
The nematode Halicephalobus mephisto, named after a demon from German folklore, was discovered by Gaetan Borgoni and Tallis Onstott in 2011 in water samples taken at a depth of 3.5 kilometers in a cave in South Africa. Scientists have found that they show high resilience in various extreme conditions, like those roundworms that survived the Columbia shuttle disaster on February 1, 2003. The discovery of devil worms could expand the search for life on Mars and every other planet in our galaxy.
6. Frogs
Scientists have noticed that some types of frogs literally freeze with the onset of winter and, thawing in the spring, return to a full life. In North America, there are five species of such frogs, the most common of which is Rana sylvatica, or Wood Frog.
Forest frogs do not know how to burrow into the ground, so with the onset of cold weather, they simply hide under fallen leaves and freeze, like everything around. Inside the body, they have a natural “antifreeze” protective mechanism, and they, like a computer, go into “sleep mode”. To survive the winter they are largely allowed by the reserves of glucose in the liver. But the most amazing thing is that Wood Frogs show their amazing ability both in the wild and in the laboratory.
7 Deep Sea Bacteria
We all know that the deepest point of the World Ocean is the Mariana Trench, which is located at a depth of more than 11 thousand meters. At its bottom, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is about 1072 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. A few years ago, scientists using high-resolution cameras placed in glass spheres discovered giant amoebas in the Mariana Trench. According to James Cameron, who led the expedition, other forms of life also thrive in it.
After studying water samples from the bottom of the Mariana Trench, scientists found a huge amount of bacteria in it, which, surprisingly, actively multiplied, despite the great depth and extreme pressure.
8. Bdelloidea
Bdelloidea rotifers are small invertebrates commonly found in fresh water.
Representatives of the Bdelloidea rotifers lack males, and the populations are represented only by parthenogenetic females. Bdelloidea reproduce asexually, which, according to scientists, negatively affects their DNA. And what is the best way to overcome these harmful effects? Answer: eat the DNA of other life forms. Through this approach, Bdelloidea has developed an amazing ability to withstand extreme dehydration. Moreover, they can survive even after receiving a lethal dose of radiation for most living organisms.
Scientists believe that the ability of Bdelloidea to repair DNA was originally given to them to survive in conditions of high temperatures.
9. Cockroaches
There is a popular myth that after a nuclear war, only cockroaches will survive on Earth. These insects are able to go weeks without food and water, but what is even more amazing is the fact that they can live many days after they lose their heads. Cockroaches appeared on Earth 300 million years ago, even earlier than dinosaurs.
The hosts of the MythBusters in one of the programs decided to test the survivability of cockroaches in the course of several experiments. First, they exposed a number of insects to 1,000 rads of radiation, a dose capable of killing a healthy human in minutes. Almost half of them managed to survive. After the MythBusters increased the radiation power to 10 thousand rad (as in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima). This time, only 10 percent of the cockroaches survived. When the radiation power reached 100 thousand rads, not a single cockroach, unfortunately, managed to stay alive.
10 Tardigrades
Aquatic microscopic invertebrates, tardigrades, are arguably the hardiest living creatures on planet Earth. These, to some extent, cute creatures are able to survive everything: cold, heat, high pressure, and even powerful radiation. Tardigrades are able to survive in extreme environments by going into a state of dehydration that can last for decades! They return to a full existence immediately after they are in the water.
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Some organisms have a special advantage that allows them to withstand the most extreme conditions, where others simply cannot cope. Among these abilities, resistance to enormous pressure, extreme temperatures and others can be noted. These ten creatures from our list will give odds to anyone who dares to claim the title of the hardiest organism.
10 Himalayan Jumping Spider
The Asiatic wild goose is famous for flying over 6.5 kilometers, while the highest human settlement is at 5,100 meters in the Peruvian Andes. However, the high-altitude record does not belong to geese at all, but to the Himalayan jumping spider (Euophrys omnisuperstes). Living at an altitude of over 6700 meters, this spider feeds mainly on small insects brought there by gusts of wind. A key feature of this insect is the ability to survive in conditions of almost complete absence of oxygen.
9 Giant Kangaroo Jumper
Usually, when we think about the animals that can live the longest without water, the camel immediately comes to mind. But camels can survive without water in the desert for only 15 days. Meanwhile, you will be surprised when you find out that there is an animal in the world that can live its whole life without drinking a single drop of water. The giant kangaroo jumper is a close relative of the beaver. Their average life expectancy is usually 3 to 5 years. They usually get moisture from food by eating various seeds. In addition, these rodents do not sweat, thereby avoiding additional water loss. Usually these animals live in the Valley of Death, and are currently under threat of extinction.
Since heat in water is more efficiently transferred to organisms, a water temperature of 50 degrees Celsius will be much more dangerous than the same air temperature. For this reason, bacteria predominately thrive in hot underwater springs, which cannot be said about multicellular life forms. However, there is a special kind of worm called paralvinella sulfincola, which is happy to settle in places where the water reaches temperatures of 45-55 degrees. Scientists conducted an experiment where one of the walls of the aquarium was heated, as a result it turned out that the worms preferred to stay in this place, ignoring cooler places. It is believed that this feature has developed in worms so that they can feast on bacteria that are abundant in hot springs. Since they had no natural enemies before, the bacteria were relatively easy prey.
7 Greenland Shark
The Greenland shark is one of the largest and least studied sharks on the planet. Despite the fact that they swim quite slowly (any amateur swimmer can overtake them), they are extremely rare. This is due to the fact that this species of sharks, as a rule, lives at a depth of 1200 meters. In addition, this shark is one of the most resistant to cold. Usually she prefers to stay in water, the temperature of which fluctuates between 1 and 12 degrees Celsius. Since these sharks live in cold waters, they have to move extremely slowly in order to minimize the use of their energy. In food they are illegible and eat everything that comes in their way. Rumor has it that their lifespan is about 200 years, but no one has yet been able to confirm or deny it.
6. Devil Worm
For decades, scientists believed that only single-celled organisms could survive at great depths. In their opinion, high pressure, lack of oxygen and extreme temperatures stood in the way of multicellular creatures. But then microscopic worms were discovered at a depth of several kilometers. Named halicephalobus mephisto, after a demon from German folklore, they were found in water samples 2.2 kilometers below the ground in a cave in South Africa. They have managed to survive extreme environmental conditions, suggesting that life is possible on Mars and other planets in our galaxy.
5. Frogs
Some species of frogs are widely known for their ability to literally freeze for the entire winter period and come to life with the advent of spring. Five species of these frogs have been found in North America, the most common of which is the common tree frog. Since tree frogs are not very strong at burrowing, they simply hide under fallen leaves. They have a substance like antifreeze in their veins, and although their hearts eventually stop, this is temporary. The basis of their survival technique is the huge concentration of glucose that enters the bloodstream from the frog's liver. What is even more surprising is the fact that frogs are able to demonstrate their ability to freeze not only in the natural environment, but also in the laboratory, allowing scientists to reveal their secrets.
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4 Deep Sea Microbes
We all know that the deepest point in the world is the Mariana Trench. Its depth reaches almost 11 kilometers, and the pressure there exceeds atmospheric pressure by 1100 times. A few years ago, scientists managed to find giant amoebae there, which they managed to capture with a high-resolution camera and protected by a glass sphere from the enormous pressure that reigns at the bottom. Moreover, a recent expedition sent by James Cameron himself showed that other forms of life may exist in the depths of the Mariana Trench. Samples of bottom sediments were obtained, which proved that the depression is literally teeming with microbes. This fact amazed scientists, because the extreme conditions prevailing there, as well as the huge pressure, are far from a paradise.
3. Bdelloidea
Bdelloidea rotifers are incredibly tiny female invertebrates, usually found in fresh water. Since their discovery, no males of this species have been found, and rotifers themselves reproduce asexually, which in turn destroys their own DNA. They restore their native DNA by eating other types of microorganisms. Thanks to this ability, rotifers can withstand extreme dehydration, moreover, they are able to withstand levels of radiation that would kill most living organisms on our planet. Scientists believe that their ability to repair their DNA came about as a result of the need to survive in an extremely arid environment.
2. Cockroach
There is a myth that cockroaches will be the only living organisms that will survive a nuclear war. In fact, these insects can live without water and food for several weeks, and what's more, they can live for weeks without a head. Cockroaches have been around for 300 million years, even outliving the dinosaurs. The Discovery Channel conducted a series of experiments that were supposed to show whether cockroaches would survive or not with powerful nuclear radiation. As a result, it turned out that almost half of all insects were able to survive 1000 rad radiation (such radiation can kill an adult healthy person in just 10 minutes of exposure), moreover, 10% of cockroaches survived when exposed to 10,000 rad radiation, which is equal to radiation from a nuclear explosion in Hiroshima. Unfortunately, none of these small insects survived 100,000 rads of radiation.
1. Tardigrades
Tiny aquatic organisms called tardigrades have proven to be our planet's hardiest organisms. These, at first glance, cute animals are able to survive almost any extreme conditions, whether it be heat or cold, huge pressure or high radiation. They are able to survive for some time even in space. Under extreme conditions and in a state of extreme dehydration, these creatures are able to stay alive for several decades. They come to life, one has only to place them in a pond.
