Top 10 Animals That Survived What Dinosaurs Couldn't

Ever dreamt about walking with the dinosaurs? These creatures actually did it. Welcome to Watchmojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Animals Alive Now From the Time of the Dinosaurs.

For this list, we’re looking at some of the oldest extant species on the planet, specifically, those who survived the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs.

They may not be glamorous or cute, but cockroaches are survivalists. Throw any number of environmental curveballs their way, and they’re likely to find a way to come out of it. While cockroaches may not be welcome in our homes and restaurants, we’d do well to remember that they’ve been on this Earth far longer than humankind. In fact, the ancestor of these creepy crawlys actually predates the dinosaurs. Of course, the species has evolved significantly since they were rubbing elbows with great lizards. And for that we should be thankful, because some early cockroaches were way worse than those we have today.

Found only on the island nation of New Zealand, the Tuatara isn’t exactly a common sight. Though at first glance they might look like any old lizard or iguana, it is the sole surviving member of the Rhynchocephalia order, which prospered some 200 million years ago. As such, this captivating reptile, which is not a lizard despite appearances, is often called New Zealand’s “living dinosaur”. It’s been the subject of great scientific interest and much study, given it can give us a lot of insight into the evolutionary history of reptiles, both living and extinct.

Believe it or not, these colorful, fat-bodied insects once buzzed their way around dinosaurs. And when the K/T Extinction occurred and wiped out the dinosaurs, the bees nearly went down with them. Bees are dependent upon plant life for their food source, so when the extinction event killed most flowering plants, the species was nearly wiped off the face of the Earth. A testament to the resourceful of animals and the power evolution and adaptation, these incredible little creatures bounced back. As a species who consumes the honey they produce en masse, we should be very grateful.

Lobsters even look prehistoric. What, with that tough carapace covered in jagged points, the powerful claws and insect-like legs, and all. So yes, it might not come as a huge shock, but lobsters crawled the ocean floor while the dinosaurs walked its shores. But here’s where things get kinda scary. Fossils have revealed the existence of an ancient ancestor of the lobster that actually predates the dinosaurs, and may have measured up to 2 meters in length. Some estimate that during its lifetime, this creature may have been the largest creature on the planet.

Dinosaurs once ruled the land, but those that called the ocean home likely faced some steep competition. Sharks actually predate dinosaurs, having been on Earth for some 450 million years in form or another. Fossil records suggest that sharks fed on dinosaurs, including flying dinos like the pterosaur. The mass extinction event that bested the dinosaurs hit sharks hard as well, but they were able to survive and eventually thrive again. It’s been suggested that the K-T extinction is actually responsible for the diversity of sharks today, including the freaky frilled shark, which has been alive since the time of the dinosaurs.

The Australian continent – which includes New Guinea – is home to 70% of all marsupials, including these odd little creatures. There are four known species of echidna, which make up 4 fifths of the largely extinct mammalian order of monotremes. It’s crazy to think that these little insect-eating creatures managed to co-exist with giant reptiles that once roamed this Earth; let along actually outlasting them! It might look like an anteater crossed with a hedgehog, but it’s something else entirely. Sadly, two out of four echidna species are considered critically endangered, and a third is vulnerable.

Turtles are captivating creatures. Sure, they’re reptiles, but the carapace and distinct anatomy makes them rather unique in the animal kingdom. However, as it turns out, turtles are more closely related to crocodiles, dinosaurs and birds than they are to lizards or snakes. This is a testament to their age and long history on this planet. One of the big mysteries surrounding turtles is when they first took to water, but the scientific community now believes that it was around 220 million years ago. During the Cretaceous period, marine turtles like Protostega and Archelon measured up to 10 feet in length and weighed 2 tons.

Let’s be honest, these massive reptiles look like dinosaurs who hunkered down and rode out the extinction event. Crocodiles, like their close relatives the alligators, managed to survive the K-T Extinction, which occurred roughly 65 million years ago. What we’re not so sure about is how. As large reptiles, you’d think that they’d be susceptible to the changes in climate that killed off their dino-cousins. Some suggest that they were anatomically better suited for survival, others have argued that their water-dwelling ways gave them a safer habitat. Others still chalk it up to a difference in size and intelligence.

There are some animals that just look like they belong to a prehistoric era. And with their rough, jagged, rugged and distinctly un-modern appearance, the horseshoe crab is just such an animal. Everything about its look screams “why, of course I've seen a dinosaur.” These arthropods aren’t actually crabs though. Because they’re so old, the scientific community hasn’t always agreed on how to classify them, but they’re considered to be more closely related to arachnids and the long extinct eurypterids, aka sea scorpions. 450 million years ago was clearly a scary time to be alive!


Before we reveal the identity of our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions

Lampreys


Sawfish


Coelacanth

There’s arguably no other animal on Earth quite like this strange creature, and that’s because the platypus is very much a holdover from a bygone era. Monotremes are classification of mammal defined by the fact that they lay eggs. Though they once dominated Australia, only five species survive today, and four of those are various types of echidna, making the platypus the solitary animal in the ornithorhynchidae surviving today. But, we’ve learned from fossils, they once had far more relatives. So unique is the platypus, that the first scientists to study a preserved specimen body thought it was a fake composed of other animals.