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The Evolution of Sharks

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Sharks first appeared about 400 million years ago. Since then, they have undergone many changes to evolve into the sharks of today.

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Some sharks were born with features that made them better able to survive. A shark with a useful feature would pass along that feature to its offspring. Over millions of years, this happened from generation to generation. Sharks with superior features proliferated and sharks without those features died off because they couldnt compete successfully for food and mates. One example of this can be found in the special way shark jaws work. Scientists believe that the first sharks with jaws that were not fused to their heads appeared about 200 million years ago. This gave them the ability to thrust their jaws forward and catch prey very efficiently. Today, almost all sharks have this feature.

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Antarctilamne, found in Antarctica, was an eel-like fish. It is classified among the prehistoric sharks known as xenacanths. Antarctica is the only place where living sharks have not been found.

How do SHARK EXPERTS know?

Scientists study fossilized bones to learn how creatures evolved. But sharks dont have bones; they have cartilage, which dissolves quickly in ocean water. Luckily, after some sharks died, their bodies lay on rocks, leaving a fossilized impression on the rocks. Studying these gives good clues about shark evolution.

One of the earliest sharks, cladoselache, had cartilage, fins, and gills. It was three feet long and swam very well, but its jaw was fused to its head so it couldnt thrust its head forward like todays sharks. It had smooth skin that wasnt as well protected from injury as that of later sharks.

Catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods, and freezes killed many of the earliest fish and insects. But many sharks survived, including stethacanthus, a fast-swimming shark with a very odd flat-topped, brushy fin. It also had toothlike scales on its skin, called dermal denticles, which prevented injury. During this era, sharks developed their unique feature of quickly replacing teeth that fall from their jaws.

A group of sharks called hybodonts arose. They were similar to todays bullheads, and, like bullheads, they had different kinds of teethsharp ones at the front of their mouths for biting and flatter ones at the sides for grinding. This group became extinct at the same time that dinosaurs vanished from the earth.

An increase in the population of small fish in the oceans made feeding easier for sharks and there was a big growth in new types of sharks. Sharks in this era developed jaws that were not fused to their skull and could thrust forward, making them efficient hunters. Their fins became more flexible, allowing for smoother swimming, and their teeth were replaced at a more rapid rate. Most sharks living today are similar to the sharks of this period.

These fossils were found in an area called the Cleveland Shale, a soft rockbed in Cleveland, Ohio, that is famous for its many dinosaur and fish fossils.

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Fossils

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Some of the most startling shark fossils that have been found belong to megalodon, a species of shark that survived for more than 50 million years and became extinct about 35 million years ago. All that is left of it are teeth and jaws and, based on the size of these, scientists think that megalodon was more than 50 feet longabout three times the size of an average great white shark. Because it was so big, scientists assume that megalodon was the most terrifying predator in the seas, and it may have been fiercer than the great white. But it did not have the same ability to evolve and survive. Great white sharks came before it, and are still around today.

word!

Megalodon means big tooth.

Scientists have found fossil evidence of at least 2,000 different species that have becom extinct over the past 400 million years. One of the most unusual is helicoprion. Fossils of helicoprion show a tooth that looks like a cross between a circular saw and a pizza cutter. Scientists are studying the fossils to learn more about this impressive feature.

Megalodon survived for more thn 50 million years and became extinct more than 35 million years ago. All that is left of it are teeth and jaws and based on these, scientists think that megalodon was more than 50 feet longabout three times the size of an average great white shark. Left: A model of megalodons jaw. Right: An artists recreation of megalodon.

bits & bites

There are shark teeth and impressions all over the world, in places very far from the ocean. Thats because most of the earth, including all of North America, was covered by water millions of years ago, so prehistoric sharks swam all over it.