For many of us, the world of ancient animals is represented by herds of dinosaurs or, in extreme cases, mammoths. In fact, it is much more diverse and fantastic. Our planet was inhabited by millions of creatures, most of which have disappeared from the face of the Earth forever, leaving us only their fossil remains, fossilized traces, drawings of ancient people, or leaving nothing at all. But each of them served as a brick of the great kingdom, called flora and fauna.
Fantastic beasts
Ancient animals began to exist in the form of spineless microorganisms long before the appearance of Homo sapiens. This is what official science claims. The unofficial, based on hundreds of artifacts found in different corners of the Earth, believes that before the advent of our civilization, there were others, no less developed than us. Of course, then not only people lived, but also animals. What they were, it is almost impossible to determine. The only thing left of them is the mention in ancient manuscripts and myths about all kinds of dragons, elves, incredible monsters, unicorns. However, there is the only museum in the world where the exhibits are real, as its workers claim, the remains of unicorns, mermaids and other outlandish creatures. Among them are fragments of dragons, mermaids, mythical double-headed snakes and other monsters recovered by archaeological enthusiasts from the bowels of the Earth.
How it all began
The official science of paleontology adheres to the theory that life originated in the Precambrian period. This is the most impressive time span, accounting for 90% of the duration of the existence of all living things. It lasted almost 5 billion years, from the beginning of the formation of the Earth to Cambria. At first on our planet there was no atmosphere, no water, nothing, not even volcanoes.
Gloomy and lifeless, she rushed silently in her orbit. This period is called Catharchy. 4 billion years ago, he was replaced by Archean, who was marked by the appearance of the atmosphere, albeit practically without oxygen. Then the first seas arose, which were acid-salt solutions. In these terrible conditions, life was born. The oldest animal on Earth is cyanobacteria. They lived in colonies, forming films or layered mats on the substrate. The memory of them is calcareous stromatolites.
Continuing the development of life
Archaea lasted 1.5 billion years. Cyanobacteria filled the atmosphere with oxygen and provided the appearance of hundreds of new types of microorganisms, due to the vital activity of which we have deposits of minerals.
About 540 million years ago, Cambrian began, lasting 55-56 million years. His first era is Paleozoic. This Greek word means "ancient life" ("paleo zoe"). The first and united
Gondwana continent. The climate was warm, close to subtropical, which was ideal for the development of life. Then it existed mainly in water. Its representatives were not only unicellular, but also entire systems of algae, polyps, corals, hydras, ancient sponges and other things. These ancient animals gradually ate all those who formed stromatolites. In the same period, they began the development of land.
Ancient plants
It is believed that the first to "land" plants. At first it was the algae of shallow waters that dried up from time to time.
Blue-green algae are considered the first plants on the planet. Psilophytes replaced them. They still had no roots, but there were already tissues that carried water and nutrients through the cells. Then came the horsetails, crowns and ferns. In size, these plants were real giants, the height of a 10-story building. In their forests it was gloomy and very humid. The first gymnosperms arose not from ferns, but from fern-like ones that already had roots, bark, core, and crown. During glaciation, the ancestors of gymnosperms became extinct. Angiosperms appeared in the
Cretaceous period. They significantly pressed their ancestors - gymnosperms, changing the face of the planet and becoming the ruling class.
First sunrise and first sunset
The appearance on land of plants contributed to the emergence and development of insects. The most ancient sushi animal is arachnids, of which the carapace is a vivid representative. Later, winged insects appeared, and then amphibians. By the end of the Paleozoic, land reptiles dominated on land, which were very impressive in size. Among them are three-meter pareiasaurs, pelicosaurs growing up to 6.5 meters, therapsids. The latter were the largest class, which had in their ranks both small representatives and giants. About 252 million years ago, a worldwide natural disaster occurred, the result of which was the complete disappearance of 70% of all land animals, 96% of marine life and 83% of insects. It happened in the Perm period. It ended with the Paleozoic and began with the Mesozoic. It lasted as much as 185-186 million years. The Mesozoic includes the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Ancient animals and plants that survived the catastrophe continued to develop. From the second half of the Triassic to the end of the Mesozoic, dinosaurs dominated.
Gentlemen dinosaurs
These reptiles totaled more than a thousand species, the remains of ancient animals help to establish and study them. The
first dinosaur is considered to be a stavricosaurus, whose body length was less than a meter, and weight about 30 kg. Errorazaurus, eoraptor, plesiosaurus, tyrannosaurus and others later appeared. They completely mastered the land, the oceans, took to the air. The most famous of the flying dinosaurs is pterodactyl. There were many species, from babies the size of a sparrow to giants with a wingspan of 12-13 meters. They ate fish, insects and their brethren. In 1964, during excavations, they found the remains of a creature called a deinonychus. It was the first warm-blooded dinosaur. Presumably he was an ancestral bird, as he had plumage.
Dinosaurs are amazing ancient animals. Many consider them stupid and primitive, but they were able not only to lay eggs, but also to hatch them, take care of their offspring, protecting and educating their children. And pelicosaurs were the progenitors of the first mammals.
Kingdom of mammals
About 65 million years ago, at the end of the Mesozoic, another terrible catastrophe occurred, as a result of which all dinosaurs became extinct. Also, most species of mollusks, aquatic reptiles, plants have disappeared. And again, the death of some gave rise to the emergence and development of others. Warm-blooded mammals underwent a long evolution and gradually populated all natural niches. This happened in the Cenozoic, which replaced the Mesozoic. In his
Quaternary period, which continues now, a man appeared. The ancient animals of the Earth, surviving natural disasters, were exterminated by primitive people at the dawn of mankind and by intelligent people in the recent past. So, by 1500, all the
moa birds were killed
. At the end of the 17th century, dodos, dodo, tours,
wandering pigeons ceased to exist
. In the 18th century, the last
sea cow was killed
. The last quagga resembling a zebra died in the 19th, and the Tasmanian wolf in the 20th. And this is only a small part of the impressive list.
Unusual finds
All these animals were killed by human greed. However, there are many wonderful people in the world who care about preserving the species that exist on Earth and undertake expeditions in order to discover new ones. Enthusiasts believe that not all ancient animals died out. There is even science - cryptozoology, dealing with unusual relict species. The most famous of these are the Loch Ness Lake Plesiosaurus and Puerto Rican Chupacabra. Skeptics do not believe in their existence, however, relatively recently, no one believed in the existence of okapi, dwarf hippopotamus, carp fish, dwarf deer and other animals discovered in the 18-20 centuries. As if in confirmation that new discoveries are yet to come, people find unusual skeletons or fragments of bodies of creatures unknown to science that are waiting for their description and classification.