Sharks existed before trees, rings of Saturn, and dinosaurs.

Wacky WorldAnimals & Nature

The earliest fossilized shark scales date back to the late Ordovician and early Silurian periods, approximately 450 to 420 million years ago. In contrast, the earliest true woody trees (such as Archaeopteris) did not evolve until the mid-to-late Devonian period, roughly 385 million years ago. Sharks have survived five global mass extinction events on Earth, including the “Great Dying” (Permian-Triassic extinction) and the Chicxulub asteroid impact that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

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