Ancient Sixgill Shark Lineage Predates the Rise of Tyrannosaurus Rex

This living shark lineage swam oceans before Tyrannosaurus rex existed.

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Hexanchiform sharks are considered among the most primitive living shark groups.

Sixgill sharks belong to the order Hexanchiformes, a primitive shark lineage that dates back more than 200 million years, long before Tyrannosaurus rex evolved approximately 68 million years ago. Their body plan preserves anatomical traits that survived multiple mass extinctions.

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💥 Impact (click to read)

While continents split apart and dinosaurs rose and vanished, the sixgill lineage persisted in deep marine refuges largely insulated from surface catastrophes. Their evolutionary stability across planetary upheavals reflects the buffering power of deep-sea environments.

A predator alive today carries structural traits forged before flowering plants dominated land. In evolutionary terms, encountering a sixgill is meeting a design that has already survived asteroid impacts and global climate collapse.

Source

Smithsonian Ocean Portal

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