Sharks are older than trees and the North Star.

Fossil records of shark-like scales date back to the Late Ordovician period, approximately 450 million years ago. In contrast, the earliest evidence of tree-like plants, such as Archaeopteris, does not appear in the fossil record until the Devonian period about 350 million years ago. This means sharks had already been hunting in the oceans for 100 million years before the first forests ever stood on land.The comparison to the North Star, or Polaris, is even more striking. While sharks have existed for nearly half a billion years, Polaris is a relatively young star. Astronomers estimate that Polaris formed roughly 70 million years ago during the Cenozoic era. This means sharks were already apex predators long before the gas and dust that make up the North Star even coalesced.Sharks have demonstrated incredible evolutionary resilience by surviving five major mass extinction events. This includes the 'Great Dying' at the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago, which wiped out 96% of marine species. Their basic body plan is so efficient that it has required very few major modifications over hundreds of millions of years.Research from institutions like the Smithsonian and the University of Chicago confirms that early shark ancestors, such as the Cladoselache, established the foundational biology seen in modern species. Their longevity serves as a testament to their perfect adaptation to the marine environment. Today, they remain one of the oldest living lineages of jawed vertebrates on the planet.