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If you saw a creature that has lived on Earth for 450 million years, how would you describe it?
Would it be said that it has eight long legs like a spider, but it does not have spider webs, and is it still a sea creature?
Does it have a sturdy shell like a beetle?
As a creature living in the marine environment, what are the differences between its habits and other marine organisms?
How did it survive in the marine environment for so long?
This is a new way of survival derived from biological evolution - reverse evolution.
This reverse-evolved organism is called the sea spider and is a benthic animal that lives in a marine environment, and according to experts, the sea spider dates back to the time of the Ordovician.
That is, it has been living on Earth for almost 500 million years, and surprisingly, the body structure and living habits of sea spiders have remained largely unchanged during these 500 million years.
This also proves how successful the "waste" survival method of the sea spider is, so why did the sea spider choose to reverse evolution?
1. Don't be picky eaters or pick the environment.
In the process of normal biological evolution, they will choose a more advanced evolutionary direction, which is inseparable from the living environment, and only advanced organisms can adapt to a variety of climatic environments and seek various survival strategies in survival.
The reason why organisms choose to evolve is nothing more than to become stronger in the process of evolution, so that they can better adapt to the living environment and better seek survival strategies in survival.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the direction of biological evolution is to become more intelligent and powerful, just as human beings have evolved to have a very developed brain.
Human beings are getting smarter and smarter in the process of evolution, the more they can adapt to a variety of living environments, and the more they can seek survival strategies in survival, but not all creatures will choose to become smarter or physically more advanced in the direction of evolution, and some organisms will choose reverse evolution, which is also a survival strategy.
The sea spider is a good example, its evolution direction is the opposite of that of other organisms, and in the process of evolution, it chooses to degenerate, why is that?
This is because the environment in which sea spiders live is very harsh, in the marine environment, there are many fish here, and there are many predators, so the creatures living in the marine environment must be very aggressive in order to survive in the ocean.
The sea spider has a different way of survival than other creatures, it is not so aggressive, and it is not as aggressive as other predators, so to survive in the ocean, a new way of survival is needed.
As a marine benthic creature, the sea spider is not only not aggressive, but also not picky eaters, which is why it can survive in the ocean.
Generally speaking, as a marine benthic organism, if it is not aggressive, then it needs to be picky eater, because it is not aggressive, so it is very careful when choosing food, and it is necessary to choose those prey that are more cowardly.
However, as a creature that lives in the ocean, the sea spider is not picky, and its habits in the ocean are very different from those of benthic organisms.
It can eat all passive prey, even dead carrion, which is why it survives in the ocean.
Second, it's so simple that you don't even have eyes.
Living in the deep sea, the light is very dim, so the visual organs that are developed like other creatures are of little use to the sea spiders, so in the evolution of the sea spiders, the visual organs have gradually degenerated, and finally there are no eyes.
Not only that, but the sea spider does not have the respiratory organs that are essential to other living things, and its respiratory organs are those long legs through which gas exchange is carried out, and its legs are completely different from the legs of other creatures.
Generally speaking, insect creatures such as spiders use their legs to find food, but this is not the case with sea spiders, because its legs have degenerated and there is no way to find food, so what is the use of legs?
Through the research of experts, it was found that the reproductive system of sea spiders is right on the legs.
The original conspicuous reproductive system, after 500 million years of baptism, has gradually degenerated, the reproductive organs have gradually simplified, now the reproductive organs of the sea spider are on the legs, because the reproductive organs of the sea spider have degenerated, so its reproductive cycle is also very long, the general life span can reach 30 years.
Many of the characteristics of the sea spider are degraded by other organisms, such as its legs are degraded by the legs of insects, and its body structure is simple, also because many organs are gone, and only some of the originally developed organs remain, such as the head organs are incomplete, which is why it has no visual organs.
Because the living habits of sea spiders are different from those of other creatures, and its body structure is relatively simple, it is easy to be found in the ocean, so in order to reduce the sense of existence, the body size of sea spiders has become smaller and smaller, and even the head organs are gone.
Therefore, it has no sense of existence, and it can better hide from those predators, which is why it can survive in the ocean.
3. Enough waste can be free from natural predators.
In the process of biological evolution, not all organisms will choose to become more intelligent or physically advanced, and some organisms may choose to degenerate or simplify their structure to adapt to the environment.
However, degradation is not a successful survival strategy for all creatures, and only by simplifying their structure and reducing their sense of presence like sea spiders can they survive in the living environment.
In the process of evolution, what kind of evolutionary direction to choose depends on the environment to which the organism itself has to adapt, some organisms will become smarter, some organisms will become stronger, and like sea spiders, they will do nothing and simply degenerate, and they can survive, which is indeed a very low-key survival strategy.
In the process of evolution, we human beings have always become more advanced, but in the process of evolution, human beings will also encounter all kinds of troubles, and wisdom will be mistaken by wisdom, just like the destruction of the environment by human beings, resulting in less and less biodiversity, and some organisms will become extinct.
The example of sea spiders can be a wake-up call for human beings that survival does not have to become stronger, sometimes it is simple and low-key, and self-protection is also a kind of survival wisdom.
Some humans believe that organisms will become smarter and stronger in the process of evolution, but the existence of sea spiders tells us that biodiversity is the key to maintaining the stability and prosperity of the earth's ecosystem, and it is the foundation of human survival.
As the most intelligent creatures on the planet, human beings sometimes bring more trouble to the earth, so while human beings develop their economy, they should also reflect on the impact of their actions on the environment and biodiversity, and learn how to survive as simple and lasting as sea spiders.
epilogue
Human beings also need humility in the process of evolution, survival is not necessarily the more evolved the better, sometimes simple, low-key, self-protection is also a kind of survival wisdom.
Human beings should reflect on the impact of their actions on the environment and biodiversity, and protect biodiversity, which is essential for the stability and prosperity of the earth's ecosystem, and the protection of biodiversity means the protection of the right to life of every living thing on the earth.