Sharks and their relatives lived before dinosaurs
AI-generated cover illustration: художня реконструкція узагальненої ранньої акулоподібної риби в девонському морі; не точний вид, не зображення найдавнішої акули й не документальне свідчення. Походження: OpenAI image generation. Дата: 2026-10-20. Промпт: “Photorealistic vertical 4:5 natural-history editorial cover reconstructing a generalized early shark-like fish swimming through a Devonian ocean more than 400 million years ago, near a dimly lit rocky seafloor with ancient marine life, dramatic but scientifically restrained museum-quality paleoart, realistic fish anatomy. Do not depict a specific fossil species or claim this was the very first shark; this is a broad visual reconstruction of early shark relatives. No modern sharks, no dinosaurs, no text, no labels.”
Fossils show that sharks and their close relatives lived in the seas more than 400 million years ago, long before dinosaurs appeared. The oldest evidence is fragmentary, so scientists distinguish early shark-like fishes from modern shark groups.