Living fossils. Tadpole shrimp found in the desert that were familiar with dinosaurs
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These tadpole shrimp have been living on Earth for about 550 million years and seem to be doing well.
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“Wave” is a sandy fossil formation located on the border of the states of Arizona and Utah on the slopes of the Coyote Butts of the Colorado Plateau. This place has become quite popular among tourists and photographers due to its colorful and undulating forms. But it seems that now another attraction has appeared here, writes the Daily Mail.
This time, the attention to the “Wave” was attracted not by incredible landscapes, but by living fossils that trampled the Earth together with dinosaurs for about 550 million years back and feel confident to this day on the planet.
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29-year-old tourist Adar Leibovich, who came to enjoy the local landscapes, managed to capture curious three-eyed creatures that calmly swam in a puddle in the middle of the desert . The man was so puzzled by what he saw that he shared a video of his “find”. It turned out that he managed to meet real living fossils – a group of prehistoric Triops shrimp.
These tadpole shrimp have lived on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, and their name comes from the Greek term for “three-eyed”. Triops are sometimes also called tadpole shrimp because of their long, drooping tails, and “shield shrimp” because of their helmet-like shell.
These prehistoric fossils have two compound eyes and a small ocellus (or “simple eye”) located in the middle and equipped with photoreceptors that help creatures detect light.
It is curious that triop eggs can be stored for a long time in anticipation of moisture, as soon as water gets on them, they become activated and begin to come to life. These creatures are also called “dinosaur shrimp” because their appearance has changed little from fossils dating back to the Devonian period (419 – 359 million years ago), or more than 100 million years before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Earth.
The Leibovich video shows four triops swimming in a rock pool. Despite the fact that it is extremely rare for people to observe these prehistoric creatures, last year they also caught the eye of tourists, also in Arizona. It is believed that then the bizarre creatures were awakened from sleep by the rainy season that hit Arizona.
Note that the “Wave” is a formation that is about 190 years old and consists of sand dunes, which eventually turned into rocks . These dunes are stacked on top of each other and reinforced with calcium deposits that form intricate vertical and horizontal patterns.
