Inside The Bizarre Biology Of Ancient Sharks

Описание: Did you know fossil sharks are older than the dinosaurs and even the rings of Saturn?

Tristan Hughes and leading palaeontologist Professor John Long delve into the epic evolutionary journey of these ocean survivors, from the earliest microscopic scales to the monstrous apex predators of the 'Golden Age of Sharks'. Professor Long, an expert in early sharks and fossil fish, details the explosion of shark diversity during the Devonian and Carboniferous periods (419 to 300 million years ago).

We discover how the cartilage skeleton gave them an advantage over armoured fish (placoderms), the rise of colossal hunters like Tenacanthus, the bizarre buzzsaw shark (Helicoprion) with a circular jaw, and how their survival was secured by adapting to diverse environments, including deep ocean and freshwater rivers. We also cover the incredible discovery of the 380-million-year-old Gogoselachus in Australia.

0:00 Introduction to prehistoric sharks and the geological timescale
1:56 Fossils as the main tool for studying early shark evolution
4:12 The origins of sharks: Scales from the Ordovician period
5:49 The Devonian period: The first great leap in shark evolution
9:04 The Devonian revolution: Life invades the land and sea
11:18 The cartilage skeleton: The key advantage of early sharks
13:08 Mass extinctions and the rise of apex predatory sharks
15:19 The Carboniferous golden age of sharks and the Bear's Den shark
18:47 Incredible diversity: Filter feeders and crushing tooth plates
27:00 The Permian period and the giant buzzsaw shark (Helicoprion)
30:56 Xenacanths: Kings of the freshwater rivers and shark cannibalism
37:34 Professor Long's discovery of Gogoselachus and bone cells
40:00 Antarctica expedition for Devonian shark fossils
48:26 The Great Dying and the birth of modern sharks (Neo-Selachians)

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Producers are Joseph Knight & McKenna Fernandez, senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Editor is Matthew Wilson. Channel manager is Vilde Øksnes.

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