There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
01-25-2016, 02:07 AM( This post was last modified: 01-25-2016, 02:09 AM by Polar )
No predator, not big cats, ursids, canines, other mammalian carnivores, crocodylids/crocodyliformes, dinosaurs, or even any other animal has lived at an equal time record of 400 million years (~470 million years ago, specifically) as sharks did, unless I'm missing some arthropods or insectiformes/insects, of course.
Even though they're not on my list of favorite animals, I still respect them due to their hardiness and body engineering to preserve their survival. Over the years, we've seen sharks with twisting, monstruous jaws (Helicoprion), sharks with a frequency-sensor/predator scare on their heads (Stethacanthus), sharks who, in a lack of large-bodied animals to feed on, subside on plankton and other nutritional bacteria from both the water and on the ocean floor (Basking Shark), weird-looking sharks (Goblin and Frilled Sharks), sharks who thrive in extreme conditions (Greenland Sharks), sharks who hibernated (Nemihorridus), sharks who were the fastest swimming creature in Earth's history (Cladoselache), sharks who both live on salt and fresh water (Bull Shark and Hybodontiformes), and finally, sharks who gained fame, spanned every ocean in the planet, and became huge (Great White Shark and Megalodon).
We normally think of these creatures as man-eating thieves, but when scientists look at their history, they see a whole new perspective: the many failed/successful attempts in which it took sharks to thrive in both size and number in the world's oceans. When I look at the human treeline of evolution, I don't see that much complexity as I do in sharks, big cats and canids do not have that much complexity either (but maybe bears do in forms of dog-like, cat-like, primate-like, and, of course, bear-like creatures), it is just a single line of evolution, we know where modern humans came from, but until today, no scientist knows if the Great White Shark/Megalodon family is a product of a single shark or many sharks.
These things I find intriguing about sharks, and instead of visualizing them as enemies, in my opinion, they should be visualized and respected as evolution's hardest work of all time.
