EXPLAINER
THE EXPLAINER SHARKS
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Sharks were cruising Earth’s oceans long before the dinosaurs began roaming the land, and they’re still swimming in them today. Their basic biology is the same as it’s always been, with skin covered in tiny teeth and skeletons made not of hard bone, like other fish, but soft cartilage – the same material as your nose and ears. There are over 500 shark species and they live everywhere, from shallow coastal waters to the deep sea – a few even swim up rivers and into lakes. Scientists are learning more about sharks all the time, finding new species and uncovering new details about their super-efficient, long, slow lives…
How long have sharks been around?
Sharks can trace their ancestry back at least 400 million years. But it’s a myth that all sharks are ancient species. Some are relatively new, including the walking sharks, which evolved in the last two to nine million years.
Acanthodii, or ‘spiny shark’ (far left) is thought to be an early relative of today’s sharks
What do sharks eat?
a Galapagos shark (left) swims through a school of black-striped salema