Megalodon shark3

Shark Evolution

By J.Edil
  • 450 BCE

    Silurian Era (450 million BCE)

    Silurian Era (450 million BCE)
    Acanthodians, the very first sharks
  • Period: 450 BCE to 20 BCE

    Shark Evolution

  • 416 BCE

    Early Devonian Era, Age of Fishes (416 million BCE)

    Early Devonian Era, Age of Fishes (416 million BCE)
    Leonodus Shark, a 16-inch freshwater shark
  • 380 BCE

    Late Devonian Era (380 million BCE)

    Late Devonian Era (380 million BCE)
    Cladoselache, First sign of the modern shark
    - Scaleless
    - Six feet long, 20-25 pounds
    - Found worldwide
  • 360 BCE

    Carboniferous Era (360 million BCE)

    Carboniferous Era (360 million BCE)
    The Golden Age of Sharks, with over 45 different families
    Stethacantus
    - 6 feet long
    - strange, flat iron-shaped dorsal fin
  • 200 BCE

    Jurassic Era (200 million BCE)

    Jurassic Era (200 million BCE)
    Appearance of the Modern Shark
    Hybodus
    - 6 feet, 100-200 pounds
    - "humped tooth"
    - tough cartilage
    - two sets of teeth (sharp, flat)
  • 145 BCE

    Cretaceous Period (145 million BCE)

    Cretaceous Period (145 million BCE)
    Modern features started taking shape,
    Goblin Shark
    - 12 feet, 400 pounds
    - jaw can extend from the snout
    - snout is elongated and flat
    - soft body
  • 60 BCE

    Cenozoic Era (60 million BCE)

    Cenozoic Era (60 million BCE)
    Appearance of the Megalodon, the largest ocean predator
    - 65 feet, 30 tons
    - 7-inch-long teeth
    - diet included whales
  • 20 BCE

    Modern Cenozoic Era (20 million BCE)

    Modern Cenozoic Era (20 million BCE)
    Appearance of today's sharks, 440 million species exist today
    Great White Shark
    - 15 feet, 1.5 tons
    - over 300 triangular teeth in separate rows
    - name derived from white underbellies
    - diet includes seals