Prehistoric Creatures That Still Exist Today

At its core, evolution is a weeding out process. Remove the weak and flawed and move forward with the best and fittest among existing species. For a species to have lasted through not only generations but across eras and time periods, those inside of that species have to have adapted within their present environment and preserved their existence amidst predatory threats. Humans may be intellectually advanced beings, but we never had to find a means of survival while dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Other creatures, however, did. And, believe it or not, some of them have stuck around to this very day. While we humans view ourselves as the predominant species on the planet, we weren’t the first one’s here, nor are we currently the longest-reigning residents of the planet. When you think about it, this list of prehistoric creatures that continue to exist into the present day features species that have lived alongside – and survived and outlived – some of the biggest, nastiest and most vicious carnivores to ever walk the earth. It helps that so many of the species dwell under water, leaving them safe from some threats while prone to others and also making them rarely seen and almost mythical in nature. 

Here are 10 prehistoric creatures that continue to live among us. 

Indeed, little seems to have changed for these species as they’ve forged through so much of the universe’s existence. Most have maintained a remarkable level of similarity in their appearance and behavior from their prehistoric selves. Incredibly, these creatures may not represent a complete collection of what still exists among us. Despite modern advances in scientific technology, we are still learning of existing species both new and old, including ones thought long since extinct. The ancient coelacanth fish, for instance, was thought to have died out 65 million years ago, with researchers unaware that lucky fishermen off the coast of Africa had been occasionally catching them for years. Ultimately, one species came to be officially rediscovered in 1938 and another more recently in 1998.

What we do know, however, is that we share the planet with living things that go back hundreds of millions of years. From ferocious sharks and alligators to living organisms as inert as a sea sponge, species both aggressive and tacit have stuck around long-term. All they share is an ancestry that goes back longer than we could possibly fathom. To put the life span of some of these species into perspective, the modern form of humans has a lineage that only traces back 200,000 years, with our earliest ancestors dating back to about six million years ago. In all of these estimated timelines, you can probably quibble on a million years here and there, but they still paint a picture of some pretty old species. 

Suffice to say, the ancestors of these creatures would probably have some stories to tell, provided that they were intelligent beings, could speak and didn’t die millions of years ago. Still, the survival skills of their species clearly can’t be questioned. 

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