alligator

On the animal side of things, the brachiopod Lingulaa is probably the oldest, having existed nearly unchanged for over 500 million years, and the horseshoe crab (limulus) has been on the planet for several hundred million years, too. Since the average "lifespan" of a species is only a few million years, having such ancient species around is very impressive.

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I'm putting in another guess:
Lizard

There's a classic 1959 movie called "The Giant Gila Monster"

And they have been here for several million years, have the capacity to be eaten or to eat us, some big ones still do. Like the huge Komodo Dragon.

The tuatara, one of the world's oldest living creatures, is under threat of extinction.

It has survived ice ages, volcanic eruptions and the intrusion of humans on its South Pacific island home, but New Zealand's last survivor of the dinosaur age may become extinct due to global warming.

Mounted with spiny scales from head to tail and covered by rough, grey skin that disguises them among the trees, the tuatara is one of the world's oldest living creatures.

But the lizard-like reptile is facing increasing risk of extinction from global warming because of its dependency on the surrounding temperature which determines the sexes of unborn young while still in their eggs.

"They've certainly survived the climate changes in the past but most of them (past climate changes) have been at a more slower rate," said Jennifer Moore, a Victoria University researcher investigating the tuatara's sexual behaviour.

"So you wouldn't expect these guys to be able to adapt to a climate that's changing so rapidly."

The sex of a tuatara depends on the temperature of the soil where the eggs are laid. A cooler temperature produces females, while a warmer soil temperature results in male offsprings.

So named by New Zealand's indigenous Maori people because of the spines on its back, the tuatara is the only survivor of its species of reptile that flourished during the age of the dinosaurs, some 200 million years ago.

It can grow up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) and weigh up to one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and like its reptile relative, the turtle, the slow-moving tuatara can live more than 100 years, feeding mainly on insects.

But scientists say its long life span as well as its four-year breeding cycle - relatively slow for a reptile - will make the adaptation process more difficult.

According to Moore, a temperature above 21.5 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit) creates more male tuatara while a cooler climate leads to females.

Already male tuatara on a tiny predator-free island near the top of New Zealand's South Island outnumber females by 1.7 times, Moore explained.

Unique wildlife

Thanks to its geographic isolation, New Zealand is home to a host of unique wildlife, such as the flightless kiwi bird.

But most have come under threat since the arrival of humans, starting with the Maori about 1,000 years ago then European settlers in the 19th century.

Some indigenous species, such as the giant moa bird, went extinct because of overhunting and the introduction of predators, such as rats, dogs, and weasels.

But New Zealand today is known as a leader in wildlife conservation, saving the likes of the Chatham Islands black robin from extinction. In 1980 there were just five black robins, now there are about 250.

Peter Gaze, a senior conservation officer at the Department of Conservation, says global warming has become a new challenge for many of New Zealand's wildlife.

"I think the impact of temperature change is widespread and diverse," he said.

He says rare species such as the rock wren - ancient, tailless birds found only in the South Island mountain ranges - could become extinct if the warmer climate lets predators, like rats, to live in higher altitudes.

For mre info and lovly photo on it please refer to source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar...

Something most of us probably have in mind: Cockroaches?

crocodilians and theyre close relative the alligator (get eaten up)

could it be the other crocodilian the caiman which does get hunted by man.

i also forgot the Gharials

I know it's Godzilla but i think he is a lizard or IGUANA!!!

Sphenodon species, also known as tuataras, are the sole living representatives of Rhynchocephalia, the sister taxon to Squamata (the clade that includes lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians; e.g., Ctenosaura pectinata, Gerrhosaurus major, Rhineura sp., and Varanus gouldii). By necessity, Sphenodon is usually used to represent the first outgroup to Squamata in phylogenetic analyses. However, there is a large gap in the fossil record of rhynchocephalians, from the early Cretaceous up to a subfossil, S. diversum. Extant Sphenodon is highly derived, and this limits its utility for polarizing characters in the evolution of squamates.

There are two living species of tuataras, Sphenodon guntheri and S. punctatus. Collectively, they are restricted in their distribution to 30 islands surrounding New Zealand, but S. punctatus is known from Holocene deposits all over New Zealand. It is thought that the arrival of Polynesians roughly 1000 years ago, and of Europeans over the last several centuries, is responsible for the tuatara's disappearance from the mainland. This is because settlers brought rats and dogs, which prey on tuataras, and cattle, which trample them. Sphenodon has been unable to rebound from the impact of humans because of its incredibly limited reproductive potential. Tuataras do not reproduce until they are 12-15 years old, and even then, they reproduce only once every four years. It is estimated that only 55,000 tuataras remain today (Mlot, 1997), despite the fact that Sphenodon was the first reptile in the world to be protected (since 1895, by New Zealand law).

The tuatara, although superficially resembling a lizard, lacks the external tympanum, femoral pores, and paired evertible hemipenes that lizards possess. Cranial features diagnostic of rhynchocephalians include an enlarged tooth row along the maxillary side of the palatine and the loss of the splenial (Gauthier et al., 1988). Both are discernible in the animations above.
http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Sphen...

Tuatara
Sphenodon punctatus
Often referred to as 'living fossils' because they are the only surviving members of the rhynchocephalid reptiles, tuataras are in fact very advanced.

Physical Description
Although they look superficially like an iguana, tuatara are not lizards. A quick look shows that they lack external ears. They vary in colour from olive to grey, and sometimes even chestnut. Males are bigger and heavier than females, and have conspicuous spiny crests running along their neck and back. The famous 'third eye' is an organ known as the pineal, which has its own lens and retina, but is covered over by opaque scales and difficult to see in adults. The second tuatara species (the North Brother Island tuatara) looks very similar, but has considerable genetic differences

Distribution
Tuatara used to range throughout both the main islands of New Zealand, but today are restricted to 30 small islands. The rarer species of tuatara, Sphenodon guntheri, is only found on North Brother Island.

Habitat
Tuatara inhabit forest and pasture near seabird colonies. The preferred habitat is coastal broad-leaf forest, especially where seabirds have dug burrows.

Diet
Most of the tuatara diet is insects and other terrestrial invertebrates. They also consume lizards, and will even eat their own young. Small burrow-nesting seabirds like petrels are also eaten: eggs and chicks as well as adults.

Notes
The function of the tuatara’s 'third eye' or pineal gland is unclear. In lizards the pineal organ is used in regulating body temperature. In mammals the pineal measures day length and controls the onset of seasonal behaviour (breeding, hibernation, etc). Tests have so far failed to uncover the function of the pineal in the tuatara. Tuatara are known as living fossils because of the very similar species that lived in the Jurassic - for instance Homoeosaurus. However, although they have many primitive features, tuatara have not remained unchanged for 200 million years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/fa...

Sauropod and Tyrannosaurus [Godzilla]

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION
Tyrannosaurus rex probably lived in forests, where its prey (plant-eating dinosaurs) could find plenty of food. T. rex fossils have been found in western North America and Mongolia.

T. rex was a huge meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 85 million to 65 million years ago. T. rex lived in a humid, semi-tropical environment, in open forests with nearby rivers and in coastal forested swamps. The seasons were mild.

Fermentational putrefaction
Eberhard Werner Happel published in 1691 “Relationes Curisosae”, a collection of curiosities which reports the usual stories from exotic countries, scientific discoveries of various disciplines as well as descriptions of landscapes, their inhabitants and folk lore.

He states that they are monsters or miraculous creatures which could not spring from an ordinary copulation of two common animals of different species. Arguing that it is well accepted that dragons inhabit the remotest dwellings such as caves, cliffs or deserts, he noticed that eagles, vultures and other birds of prey are their companions.

In fact they dwelled there even before the dragon. To these places they brought their prey , snakes, birds, rabbits, lambs, dogs, and even little children, to lacerate and devour them. And there the remains decayed. But still remnants of the semen of these unlucky victims survived. Of course it was impossible that this seed could develop ordenary animals.

But through time the semen of various creatures would intermingle and at last a kind of "fermentational putrefaction" would give birth to a dragon. Logically, this dragon will show features of all animals involved: head and tail of the snake, wings of a bird or bat, ears of a rabbit and legs of whatever kind of being.

http://dragons.monstrous.com/fermentatio...

Rumor has it that Nessie ate one human, sometime around the year 700 AD. Perhaps he tasted bad. Perhaps Nessie gained respect for humans. Perhaps all the local folk praying for safety from Nessie had an effect. Whatever the reason, Nessie has never eaten another human since.
Loch Ness has plenty for her to eat. Estimates of the fish population in Loch Ness, are as high as 27 tons. They include: Salmon, Sea Trout, Brown Trout, Pike, Eel, Char, Lamprey, Minnow, Stickleback, Sturgeon, Wels, and Flounder. And that's mainly in the top 5 feet of the Loch. The Loch is over 700 feet deep, but the water is murky. If Nessie is able to fish in the dark, she must be able to detect food with more than eyesight alone. Perhaps she uses sonar like bats.
Perhaps she is vegetarian. Plenty of leaves fall into the Loch. Zoo-plankton are plentiful.
Whatever Nessie likes to eat, Loch Ness has enough food to support dozens of her family, without eating visitors to the Loch.

http://www.simegen.com/writers/nessie/yu...

Scientist claims he saw the Loch Ness Monster
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/displ...

The Legend of Nessie the Ultimate and Official Loch Ness Monster Site
http://www.nessie.co.uk/