Ancient Mega-Shark Discovered in Australia

Researchers, including Benjamin Karney from the Swedish Museum of Natural History, have identified the earliest known mega-predator of the modern shark lineage, a monstrous shark that prowled the waters off what is now northern Australia during the Cretaceous period. This discovery, based on huge vertebrae found near Darwin, pushes back the timeline for enormous lamniform sharks by 15 million years. The findings were published in the journal Communications Biology. The study suggests that modern sharks rose early in their adaptive evolution to the top of prehistoric food chains and could help researchers understand how today's species might respond to environmental change.