Epic sharks — the ancient origins of the monsters of the sea

Conversations

From sharks with wheels of teeth, to the ascent of the super predators like the megalodon, palaeontologist John Long has traced the long and storied history of these oceanic hunters.

Sharks and humans have a complicated relationship.

We have long considered them monsters and super predators that should be eliminated for our own safety.

But sharks are much more than something to be feared.

The ancient history of this incredible animal stretches back hundreds of millions of years. Somehow, sharks have survived mass extinction events that other creatures could not, and their evolution is as much a thing of art as it is of science.

This episode of Conversations explores science, origin stories, ancient history, sharks, palaeontology, the ocean, climate change, megalodon, hunting and predators.