The oldest fish was called Leedsichthys (lat. Leedsichthys). These are giant bony fish that lived in Jurassic period. Leedsichthys belongs to the pachycormidae family from the order pachycormidae. The fish are described mainly from fossil finds. The first finds date back to 1889. They were discovered by fossil collector Arthur Leeds, near Peterborough (England). Then in 2003, again near the Peterborough quarry, excavation of the complete skeleton of Leedsichthys began. This was the first complete skeleton of an ancient fish. Thanks to this find, scientists were able to more accurately determine the size of the fish. According to their calculations, the length of the fish reached 20-24 meters. The oldest fish on Earth was slightly larger than the current whale shark. This is one of the biggest bony fish
in the history of our planet and they lived in tropical seas in the area of present Europe 
Researchers believe that this dinosaur fish disappeared at the same time as the dinosaurs. According to scientists, adult specimens of this fish species weighed about 21.5 tons. They lived to be about forty years old. They had a pretty huge mouth. They used it like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up plankton and possibly tens of thousands of small fish, including shrimp and jellyfish. It filtered food using gill rakers. Such as, modern whale sharks. Having such huge size the ancient oceans could snatch a piece of meat from these fish without much difficulty. But practically no one could kill them. Therefore, the predators waited several days until the dinosaur fish died, while they continued to bite off its flesh. They ate the fish practically alive. According to scientists from the University of Bristol, Leedsichthys is the oldest fish on earth. Special view Such fish lived on our planet about 160 million years ago. The skeleton of the fish amazes everyone with its size. The length of the last discovered fossil reaches 16 meters, but the estimated 
the weight of Leedsichthys is equal to two 2-decker buses that travel in London or three African elephants Professor Geoff Liston told Mail Online that Leedsichthys' skeletons were poorly preserved. Mostly isolated fragments were discovered. For this reason, preliminary estimates of the size and description of this fish species are unfounded. But still, the existence of such huge fish plays important role
. After all, this explains a lot about changes in the population of plankton living in the Jurassic period in the oceans of our ancient planet. Let us remind you that today the longest bony fish in the world is herring king
. The body length of this fish can be up to seventeen meters. Horseshoe crabs are considered to be the most ancient animals living on Earth - aquatic chelicerates from the class merostomaceae. On this moment four are known modern looking these arthropods. They live in the shallow waters of tropical seas South-East Asia And Atlantic coast North America
. Horseshoe crabs appeared on our planet approximately 450 million years ago. Neopilin cephalopods originated on Earth 355-400 million years ago. They live in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans
at depths from 1800 to 6500 meters. These creatures were discovered only in 1957. Coelacanths are the only one modern gender Lobe-finned fish are still considered living fossils today. Now there are only two types of coelacanths - one lives in the eastern and south coast
Africa, and the second was first described only in 1997-1999. near the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
Cockroaches appeared on our planet about 320 million years ago and have been actively spreading since then - scientists currently know more than 200 genera and 4,500 species.
The remains of cockroaches are, along with the remains of cockroaches, the most numerous traces of insects in Paleozoic deposits.
The oldest surviving to this day large predator is a crocodile. However, it is considered the only surviving species of crurotarsians - a group that also included a number of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. It is believed that crocodiles appeared on Earth approximately 250 million years ago.
Crocodiles are common in all tropical countries, living in a variety of fresh water bodies; relatively few species are tolerant of salt water and are found in coastal seas ( Nile crocodile, saltwater crocodile, African narrow-snouted crocodile).
The first crocodiles lived mainly on land and only later moved on to life in the water. All modern crocodiles are adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle - living in water, they, however, lay eggs on land.
Small crustaceans of the class of branchiopods appeared on Earth 220-230 million years ago, when dinosaurs still lived on the planet. Shield bugs are small creatures and are rarely longer than 12 cm, however due to unique system they managed to survive.
The fact is that shieldfish live in stagnant water of temporary fresh water bodies, due to which they are spared natural enemies and in their niche they are at the top of the ecological pyramid.
Hatterias, a type of reptile, are the only modern representative ancient order of beakheads. They live only on a few islands of New Zealand, although on the North and South Islands Hatterias are already extinct.
These reptiles grow up to 50 years, and the average life expectancy is 100 years. It is believed that they originated on the planet 220 million years ago, and now tuataria are included in the IUCN Red List and have protective status vulnerable species.
The Nephila spider is not only considered the oldest on the planet - scientists believe that this genus originated about 165 million years ago - but it is also the largest web-weaving spider. These spiders live in Australia, Asia, Africa, America and the island of Madagascar.
Interestingly, fishermen collect Nephila webs, form them into a ball, which they then throw into the water to catch fish.
We all know from school that many ancient animals that once inhabited the planet have long since become extinct. But did you know that there are now animals on Earth that saw dinosaurs? And then there are animals that have been around longer than the trees these dinosaurs ate the leaves from. However, many of these ancient representatives of the fauna have remained virtually unchanged over the millions of years of their existence. Who are these old-timers on our Earth and what is so special about them?
1. Jellyfish
The first place in our “rating” is rightfully occupied by jellyfish. Scientists believe that jellyfish appeared on earth about 600 million years ago.The most big jellyfish, which the man caught, had a diameter of 2.3 meters. Jellyfish do not live long, about a year, because they are a delicacy for fish. Scientists are puzzling over how jellyfish perceive nerve impulses from the organs of vision, because they do not have a brain.
2. Nautilus
Nautiluses have lived on Earth for more than 500 million years. This cephalopods. Females and males differ in size. The nautilus shell is divided into chambers. The mollusk itself lives in the largest chamber, and uses the remaining compartments, filling or pumping out with biogas, as a float for diving to depth.
3. Horseshoe crabs
These marine arthropods are rightfully considered living fossils, because they have lived on Earth for more than 450 million years. To give an idea of how long this is, horseshoe crabs are older than trees.
It was not difficult for them to survive all the known global disasters, practically unchanged in appearance. Horseshoe crabs can rightfully be called animals " blue bloods" Their blood, unlike ours, is blue, because it is saturated with copper, and not iron, like human blood.
The blood of horseshoe crabs has amazing properties- when it reacts with microbes, clots are formed. This is how horseshoe crabs create a barrier against germs. A reagent is made from the blood of horseshoe crabs and used to test medications for purity.
4. Neopilins
Neopilina is a mollusk that has lived on Earth for approximately 400 million years. He hasn't changed in appearance. Neopilins live on great depths in the oceans.5. Coelacanth
Coelacanth is a modern fossil animal that appeared on our planet approximately 400 million years ago. Over the entire period of its existence, it has remained virtually unchanged. At the moment, coelacanth is on the verge of extinction, so catching these fish is strictly prohibited.
6. Sharks
Sharks have existed on Earth for more than 400 million years. Sharks are very interesting animals. People have been exploring them for many years and never cease to be amazed at their uniqueness.For example, a shark’s teeth grow throughout its life, the most big sharks can reach 18 meters in length. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell - they can smell blood at a distance of hundreds of meters. Sharks practically do not feel pain, because their body produces a certain “opium” that dulls pain.
Sharks are amazingly adaptable. For example, if there is not enough oxygen, they can “shut down” part of the brain and use less energy. Sharks can also regulate the salinity of water by producing special means. Shark vision is several times better than that of cats. IN dirty water they can see up to 15 meters away. 
7. Cockroaches
These are real old-timers on Earth. Scientists say that cockroaches have inhabited the planet for more than 340 million years. They are hardy, unpretentious and fast - this is what helped them survive during the most turbulent periods of history on Earth.Cockroaches can live for some time without a head - after all, they breathe with the cells of the body. They are excellent runners. Some cockroaches run about 75 cm in a second. This is very good result relative to their height. And their incredible endurance is evidenced by the fact that they can withstand radiation almost 13 times more than humans.
Cockroaches can live without water for about a month, without water for a week. Their female retains the male's seed for some time and can fertilize herself.
8. Crocodiles
Crocodiles appeared on Earth about 250 million years ago. Surprisingly, crocodiles first lived on land, but then they liked to spend a significant part of their time in the water.Crocodiles are amazing animals. They don't seem to do anything for nothing. To make food easier to digest, crocodiles swallow stones. This also helps them dive deeper.
There is a natural antibiotic in the crocodile's blood that helps them not get sick. Average duration Their lifespan is 50 years, but some individuals can live up to 100 years. Crocodiles cannot be trained and can be considered the most dangerous animals on the planet.
9. Shchitni
Shchitni appeared on Earth during the period of dinosaurs approximately 230 million years ago. They live almost all over the world, except Antarctica.Surprisingly, the shields have not changed in appearance, they only became smaller in size. The largest scale insects were found measuring 11 cm, the smallest - 2 cm. If the scale insects are hungry, cannibalism is possible among them.
10. Turtles
Turtles inhabited the Earth approximately 220 million years ago. Turtles differ from their ancient ancestors in that they have no teeth and have learned to hide their heads. Turtles can be considered long-lived. They live up to 100 years. They see, hear, and have a keen sense of smell. Turtles remember human faces.If the temperature in the nest where the female laid eggs is high, females will be born; if it is low, only males will be born.
11. Hatteria
Hatteria is a reptile that appeared on Earth more than 220 million years ago. Now the tuataria live in New Zealand.Hatteria looks like an iguana or lizard. But this is just a similarity. Hatterias established a separate detachment - beak-headed. This animal has a “third eye” on the back of its head. Tuttaria have slow metabolic processes, so they grow very slowly, but they can easily live up to 100 years.
12. Spiders
Spiders have lived on Earth for more than 165 million years. The oldest web was found in amber. Her age became 100 million years. A female spider can lay several thousand eggs at a time - this is one of the factors that has helped them survive to this day. Spiders have no bones; their soft tissues are covered by a hard exoskeleton.The web could not be made artificially in any laboratory. And those spiders that were sent into space spun three-dimensional webs.
It is known that some spiders can live up to 30 years. Biggest famous spider has a length of almost 30 cm, and the smallest is half a millimeter.
13. Ants
Ants are amazing animals. It is believed that they have lived on our planet for more than 130 million years, while practically not changing their appearance.Ants are very smart, strong and organized animals. We can say that they have their own civilization. They have order in everything - they are divided into three castes, each of which does its own thing.
Ants are very good at adapting to circumstances. Their population is the largest on Earth. To imagine how many there are, imagine that there are about a million ants per inhabitant of the planet. Ants are also long-lived. Sometimes queens can live up to 20 years! They are also amazingly smart - ants can teach their fellows to look for food.
14. Platypuses
Platypuses have lived on Earth for more than 110 million years. Scientists suggest that at first these animals lived in South America, but then they got to Australia. In the 18th century, the skin of platypuses was first seen in Europe and was considered... a fake.Platypuses are excellent swimmers; they easily obtain food from the river bottom using their beaks. Platypuses spend almost 10 hours a day underwater.
Platypuses could not be bred in captivity, but in wildlife Today there are quite a few of them left. Therefore, animals are listed in the International Red Book.
15. Echidna
The echidna can be called the same age as the platypus, because it has inhabited the Earth for 110 million years.Echidnas look like hedgehogs. They boldly guard their territory, but when in danger they burrow into the ground, leaving only a bunch of needles on the surface.
The echidna does not have sweat glands. In hot weather they move little; in cold weather they can hibernate, thus regulating their heat exchange. Echidnas are long-lived. In nature they live up to 16 years, and in zoos they can live up to 45 years.
I wonder if a person can live on Earth for that long?
Who are they and where are they from?
Shark is one of ancient inhabitants world ocean. The first sharks appeared in Paleozoic era, 350-320 million years ago, and similar to modern ones - 150 million years. Together with stingrays, they also have the biological name “selachia”, and belong to the group cartilaginous fish. Unlike most fish, their skeleton is completely absent bone, but the body is covered with scaly scales, the tissue of which is identical in structure to tooth tissue. These and other features allow us to consider them the most primitive of existing fish. However, over millions of years they have adapted to life perfectly. Again, the characteristics of teeth, motor, nervous system and sense organs completely equate them in level of organization with the most progressive bony fish, and in some places they provide advantages.
In total, about 350 species of sharks are known. Most belong to the so-called true predators, individual species(interestingly, the largest ones), such as giant, whale and largemouth, feed on plankton.
They...
The bad reputation of sharks is as old as knowing them. There is still no certainty on this issue. Sometimes both children and scuba divers swim and swim close to sharks - and nothing bad happens. And other times, sharks grab swimmers on crowded beaches, in shallow water, where a person is waist-deep and where nothing like this has ever happened before.
The last two years brought rich prey to the sharks World War. As a result, even staff officers realized how dangerous sharks were to soldiers, sailors and pilots in distress in the tropics. And at the beginning of the war, in the “Manual for Survivors of a Shipwreck”, published in the USA, it was written about sharks like this: “they are slow, cowardly and can be frightened by slaps in the water”... Probably, similar recommendations can be encountered even now. But this is what they led to, using the example of the above-mentioned sailors:
“The transport Nova Scotia was sunk off the coast of Southeast Africa, killing a thousand people. There were many corpses floating around in life jackets - and all the bodies were without legs”...
At the moment, it is believed that there are three main reasons for shark attacks:
- Blood in the water.
- Injured or struggling fish on the hook.
- The swimmer's inept floundering and his fear of the shark.
Statistics have shown: in most cases, sharks attack people swimming, walking through the water, or standing in it, when their feet are in the water and their heads and shoulders are above it. Therefore, for scuba divers, the most dangerous moment when meeting a shark is leaving the water and appearing on the surface.
If we exclude shipwrecks, then two thirds of all recorded shark attacks are committed in shallow waters, at a depth of no more than one and a half meters, a hundred or so meters from the shore, mainly in the tropics and subtropics, where the water temperature is at least 18 degrees. But there are many exceptions here: there have been cases of death from sharks in very cool water (12 degrees). But in general it is established: when the water is colder than 15 degrees, the most dangerous sharks they lose their appetite, are lethargic, and, fortunately for them, two-legged “game” is no longer attracted to them.
...and we them
Possibilities of using a shark as commercial fish very diverse. The meat of most species of these fish is edible, nutritious and has long been consumed in many countries of Europe and Asia. The liver of sharks is also of great value - its weight in a number of species ranges from 5 to 30% of the total body weight. Shark liver contains 40-70% fat, rich in vitamin A. In the late 60s. A fat-like substance was discovered in the liver of some sharks, which significantly increased the body's resistance to cancer. They also hunted sharks in Russia - in 1862, in the Kola Bay, Russian Pomors caught 5 thousand pounds of polar shark liver.
From the cartilaginous skeleton of sharks has long been industrial scale get gelatin and glue.
Shark skin (shagreen) is used for a wide variety of purposes - it is used to make haberdashery goods and shoes, and is used as an abrasive material for grinding. valuable species wood, as well as when processing felt. Shark skin has extraordinary tensile strength, withstanding forces of up to 500 kg/cm 2, while cowhide - only 300 kg/cm 2.
An equally valuable part of a shark’s body is its fins. Typically their mass ranges from 1.7 to 4% total weight fish. All fins longer than 15 cm, with the exception of the caudal one, processed accordingly, are used to prepare a delicious soup. Boiled and peeled fins are canned, and the resulting canned food is also used to make soups. The main consumer of fins and the above-mentioned soup is China, which has caused a noticeable decline in the number of sharks in recent years.
When fishing for sharks, almost all fishing gear that currently exists is used - their choice depends on species composition sharks, bottom topography in the fishing area and other factors. Large sharks They are caught on longlines, less often harpooned, and small species are caught by trawls and nets.
IN Lately there is a significant decrease in shark catches - if in 1967-68. About 340 thousand tons of them were mined in all oceans, then by the end of the 90s. this value has more than halved. This is primarily due to a decrease in the number of sharks as a result of their active fishing in previous years. Given the slow rate of shark reproduction, many countries have begun to regulate their fishing.
Katran is almost no longer exotic
And finally, purely pragmatic information. Recently, a number of travel agencies Black Sea coast Among the offers in the Caucasus is shark fishing! Hunting for the Black Sea shark (katrana) takes place in the territorial waters of Russia, along the Black Sea coast from Cape Panagia to Cape Idokopas at a distance from the coast 12 nautical miles. The recommended season is from late May to early November, with the peak being in August-September. Fishing time in the open sea is 24 hours. The katran has a spindle-shaped body, sometimes up to 2 meters in length, ending in a multi-lobed tail. The snout is pointed, the mouth is transverse, in front of two dorsal fins- sharp spikes covered with poisonous mucus. Brown skin with white spots on the sides is covered with diamond-shaped scales with sharp spines. The belly is white. There is no swim bladder. Sharks are heavier than water, and therefore movement is their lifelong destiny. They stay in the water as long as they move or at least move their tail, otherwise they drown. Yes and high speed movement is also a significant factor in their well-being. Only while moving do sharks get enough oxygen into their body through their gills. Otherwise they may suffocate.
Amateur fishing black sea shark is gradually gaining more and more popularity. They catch it from a small vessel anchored or drifting. In both cases, they use bait from finely chopped fish - this is necessary so that the odorous trail spread by the bait is continuous.
As a rule, they are caught with several rods of the 15-24 kg class, equipped with powerful multiplier reels. The cost of such entertainment is around $1000.
Peter Plyukhin
When preparing the material we used:
- "Shadows in the sea. The sharks, skates and rays" by Harold W. McCormic and Tom Allen with Captain William E. Young
- V.V. Zdanovich “Fishing and use of sharks”
Coelacanth, or coelacanth, - sole representative lobe-finned fish. It was thought to have gone extinct about 70 million years ago. Zoologists first learned about its existence in 1938. Since then, coelacanth has become synonymous with “living fossils.”
But scientists foresaw this. Although, by and large, they had almost no hope. But, as often happens in the world of science, the search that lasted for many decades was finally crowned with success. Incredible but true: 60 years after the first discovery off the coast South Africa, a living relic - a real prehistoric fish that lived in the sea 300 million years ago - was caught in the net of Indonesian fishermen from the island of Sulawesi. It was a coelacanth. The discovery so excited the scientific community and the public that the popular English magazine Nature immediately recognized it as the most outstanding event of the year.
Chance, as always, helped bring him closer.
In 1997, a young married couple appeared in Sulawesi, united also professional interests. American ichthyologist Mark Erdman and his Indonesian wife, also a marine biologist, decided to spend their honeymoon in the exotic surroundings of the northern part of Sulawesi, which differs from the southern part of this island, perhaps, only in that it lies just above the equator, therefore, in a different hemisphere. While walking one day through the market of the seaside town of Manado, which was full of outlandish variety, the Erdman couple purely by chance noticed an unusual large fish - an exhibition specimen, so to speak, which, accordingly, could not be bought. But it was possible to take a photo. Which the couple did successfully.
However, Mark Erdman, as a specialist, only had to take one look at the curiosity to understand that this was a rare specimen of the legendary coelacanth.
What was surprising was how the coelacanth got to Indonesia. Previously, it was believed that the range of the coelacanth extends no further than the Comoros Islands, which lie in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel - between the northern tip of Madagascar and the eastern coast of Africa. And from Comoros to Sulawesi is a good 10,000 km. Which Mark Erdman knew very well. And then he decided to engage in a private investigation with his wife, fearing for the time being to make his discovery public. Erdman could be completely understood: he wanted to collect more facts.
And the first such fact turned out to be that the coelacanth, which Sulawesi fishermen have long dubbed “raja-laut”, which means “king of the sea”, is not so very rare- no, no, and he gets caught in fishing nets. And the fact that it has not yet caught the eye of scientists, who is to blame for this? At least not fishermen.
Be that as it may, a year later - on June 30, 1998 - another specimen of the coelacanth landed in the net of fishermen from Manado, which they set for sharks. One problem: in the cage where he was placed, he lived only for three hours, leaving behind only a memory - in the form of a photograph and description taken by Erdman, a stuffed animal and unanswered questions that added to the treasury of zoological secrets. As it happened more than once - both in 1938 and in 1952.
And then this happened. The first living coelacanth was caught at the mouth of the South African Halumna River. Or - the last representative of the lobe-finned fish, a superorder of bony fishes that appeared in the Middle Devonian period and - what is remarkable! - gave rise to terrestrial vertebrates. However, coelacanths were thought to have gone extinct 70 million years ago. But it was not there!..
The caught individual reached more than one and a half meters in length and weighed about 60 kg. WITH light hand Professor J.L.-B. Smith, who studied the rare find inside and out, she got her scientific name: Latimeria chalumnae - after the place where it was discovered. The individual had eight fins, and four of them closely resembled the legs of an amphibian in its earliest stages of development. Smith and other researchers were no less surprised by the respiratory apparatus of the fish, or rather, one of its components - an organ similar to primitive, just forming lungs. Thus, obvious confirmation was obtained the most important position evolutionary theory that life came to earth from the sea. And that the so-called lung fish were the ancestors of terrestrial vertebrates.
In addition, scientists realized that the coelacanth caught near east coast South Africa, ended up in those waters, basically, by accident. The relict individual, they suggested, was most likely brought there by the Mozambique Current from the north.
The guess was confirmed sixteen years later. In 1952, another living specimen of the coelacanth was caught in the waters of Anjouan Island, part of the Comoros archipelago. Then it turned out that the Comorians have been fishing for this fish since ancient times and call it “gombessa”. And for them it is not at all a curiosity.
This is how the range of the prehistoric lobe-finned fish resurrected from oblivion was established - the western part Indian Ocean, the northern entrance to the Mozambique Channel. However, these boundaries, as we already know, turned out to be conditional. Twelve years later, scientists have received factual evidence that the Comorian "Gombessa" was once seen in another ocean, off the coast of a completely different continent.
In 1964, the Belgian naturalist Maurice Steiner bought from a Spanish antiquarian a 17th-century silver medallion depicting a coelacanth, which was reproduced with amazing accuracy. But the most curious thing is that the medallion was not made in the Comoros Islands or even in Europe. Oddly enough, thousands of miles from the African and European shores - in Mexico. And this fact was confirmed for certain - through chemical analysis of silver and the establishment of a very characteristic Spanish-American method of minting and decorating jewelry, which was made precisely in the 17th century, and not just anywhere, but in the New World.
The reality of the Mexican coelacanth was confirmed in 1993. French biologist Roman E in the town of Beloxi (Mississippi), just on the northern coast Gulf of Mexico, acquired three large dried scales, reminiscent of medium-sized flat shells. They seemed to have been extracted from the scaly integument of one of the coelacanths described in detail by Smith in 1938 and 1952.
And then there is the “raja laut”, very similar to the individuals classified by Smith. The only thing that distinguished the “sea king” from the island of Sulawesi from his Comorian relative was the color. The Sulawesi coelacanth had a distinct brown color with yellowish spots, and not the steel-blue color of the Comorian.
And finally, according to another French cryptozoologist, Michel Raynal, the range of the “raja laut” extends much further than the Sulawesi Sea. Anyway, oh mysterious fish, according to descriptions very similar to a coelacanth, Reynal had heard more than once from Philippine fishermen. And this is the Pacific Ocean!
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