Have Cockroaches Survived A Million Years?

According to the fossil evidence collected, cockroaches are among the oldest living species aging back to 300 million years. They proved to have survived extreme conditions over the years with broadly ranging to 4,600 different species worldwide. The cockroaches live in all continents except Antarctica. They are considered the hardiest because of their longevity.

How Cockroaches Managed To Survive

1. Their adaptable nature has brought them a long way. They are adapting to all the changes that happened on earth over hundreds of million years. They even sneak into our living space, office and even make our food their own.
2. They pretty much feed on everything, right from fresh food, stale food, dead, decayed, leather, wood, food grains, floor, etc.
3. They are smaller in size and manage to live between any tiny space. Cockroaches even tend to live behind a picture frame, cracks on the walls, under the tables, toilets, etc.
4. A cockroach can produce up to 400 offsprings in 40 eggs each year. The growth is rapid, giving the newborn the ability to reproduce.
5. The reason for quick reproduction is they hide in their spaces in daylight and come out in the night looking for food and water.
6. This species has a unique ability to survive for long days without food and water.

Some Scientifically Proven Facts

Scientists worldwide wanted to tap into history and find out if the first species of cockroaches are still alive today. The roaches proved to have existed 300 million years ago when the planet was a single mass dry land called Pangaea Supercontinent. Eventually, the continental drift happened, and the cockroaches traveled along all the continents, multiplying in several numbers. Pangaean Cockroaches are the oldest know of their kind. The species that lived 300 million years ago are long gone, and the oldest ancestors to current living species age back to 235 million years.

UnHealthy Aspects of Cockroaches

Cockroaches are most spoken off pests around the world. And several measures are carried out to eradicate them in and around the environment. The secretion produced by cockroaches stain the surface and spread a foul odor. Food contamination is a significant issue that causes several serious diseases and allergies.