Why did the golden age of sharks end in such a loss of diversity?
Before the era of great whites and hammerheads, sharks and their cartilaginous relatives occupied an astonishingly diverse range of marine and river environments. This video explores the evolutionary mystery of why these bizarre, specialized species eventually vanished.
The video examines the 'golden age' of sharks, a period when their relatives possessed extraordinary physical traits, including features described as buzzsaws, anvils, and spikes. While these ancient sharks and their cartilaginous kin once ruled both oceans and rivers with incredible variety, this period of high specialization was not permanent. The presentation investigates the evolutionary trajectory that led these odd, diverse forms to lose most of their unique biological complexity, leaving us with the more familiar shark species we recognize today.
Source: How Sharks Lost Their Buzzsaws, Anvils, and Spikes
