Original photo by Yobro10/ iStock
For most of human history, sharks were considered fairly harmless, a perception that changed forever with the 1975 release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Relative to the total amount of time sharks have been around, however, “most of human history” is just the blink of an eye.
Having existed for somewhere between 400 million and 450 million years, these fish are older than just about anything you can think of — including Saturn’s rings. While the planet Saturn itself formed some 4.5 billion years ago alongside the rest of our solar system, its rings formed between 10 million and 100 million years ago, making them relatively recent in the grand scheme of things.
And just for fun, here are some other things sharks are older than: trees (which are roughly 390 million years old), the North Star (70 million years), and the Atlantic Ocean (150 million years). That’s right — sharks have existed longer than one of the oceans they now swim in, as the Atlantic didn’t form until the supercontinent Pangea broke apart.
Numbers Don't Lie
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Saturn’s atmosphere is mostly composed of molecular ______.
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Sharks weren’t recorded making noise until 2025.
They don’t call them silent killers for nothing, and indeed part of what’s made sharks so frightful in the collective imagination is the idea that their attacks, while vicious, are noiseless. But sharks aren’t entirely silent. University of Auckland scientists have recorded a rig shark making a clicking sound, most likely by snapping its teeth. Their research was published in March 2025, marking a breakthrough in our understanding of these ancient creatures.
The sound, which the sharks made an average of nine times in a 20-second span, wasn’t produced while swimming or feeding. The researchers believe it isn’t used as a means of communication, but rather is something sharks do when startled or stressed.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
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