Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Living fossil found in China

A living fossil has been discovered in north China after heavy rains created pools of water big enough to allow the creatures to hatch.

The unusual animal is known as a Tadpole Shrimp, and they are over 200 million years old.


YouTube link.

The shrimp lives on the bottom of temporary pools and shallow lakes, feeding on microbes and small animals in the water.

Although these plains get less than 40mm of rain a year, the downpour was enough to create the perfect hatching conditions for the eggs, which can survive on a dry river bed for 25 years.

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