Relic animals are species of animals that have survived from the times of past geological eras and once played an important role in former ecosystems. The number of such animals in the world is small, so most of them do not live in the wild, but in protected areas.
Desman
The most famous relict animal widespread in Russia is, of course, the desman. Desman, or as they are sometimes called, hohuli were listed in the Red Book back in 1986 as a species on the brink of extinction. Desman is contemporaries of mammoths and has not changed at all over the past several tens of millions of years. Today their population is only about 30,000 individuals.
Desman is a semi-aquatic mammal of the mole family. Outwardly, this animal resembles a river rat. The length of its body is on average 20 centimeters, the short five-fingered limbs are equipped with claws, the nose is a rather long proboscis, the tail is decorated with horny scales and has holes through which musk is released.
Due to the presence of musk glands, desman exudes a pungent specific odor. These aquatic animals got their not too euphonious and funny name by attaching the prefix vy to the word "huhola". "Huhola", in turn, comes from the verb "huhhat".
According to Dahl's dictionary, the word desman comes either from the word "huhat" ("stink"), or from the word "hakhal" ("funny dandy, smothered")
Bison
Another relict animal characteristic of Russia is the bison. It has been known since the Ice Age. The International Committee for the Conservation of Bison has calculated that there are only a few hundred of these bulls left in the world. The European bison is the last wild bull and the heaviest mammal in Europe. Due to the danger of extinction, most of the representatives of this species live in reserves and nurseries under constant protection.
After the First World War, the number of bison dropped dramatically: only 66 individuals remained in the world.
Outwardly, the bison practically does not differ from its close relative, the bison. The mighty body is two to three meters long, the height at the withers is up to two meters. The developed neck and withers resemble a hump. Curly brown wool forms bangs and a beard. They behave extremely aggressively, therefore experienced huntsmen allow only separate old individuals to live in freedom.
The fauna of Russia is extremely diverse, and to this day, in certain parts of the country, you can find a number of relict animals and plants preserved in modern biota. In addition to bison and desman, one can name the relic gull, the relict woodcutter beetle (also known as the Ussuri barbel), the white-eyed.
