Alligator Gar
Discovered: 1803
Location: North America
The Alligator Gar looks, to many, like a living fossil. It happens to be the largest freshwater fish of any kind in North America today. It is one of the few fish species to retain primitive morphological characteristics that have gone unchanged for millions of years. The “gar” species actually goes back 100 million years, so to change only slightly in that time is amazing. In fact, the alligator gar happens to have a spiral valve intestine, the same digestive system sharks utilize.
It’s likely that this was left-over from when the species was far larger. This species is also able to breathe in and out of the water too. On top of its facial resemblance to alligators, this similarity is also pretty crazy to see. The alligator gar cannot just walk in and out of the water, but it does have large, sharp teeth and can grow up to ten feet! If that is not enough, the species also have ganoid scales. These scales are bone-like with serrated edging, making even getting close to one dangerous.