A recent study discovers a new species of shark from the late Cretaceous period with ray-like qualities.
Most sharks known today are streamlined predators. Modern sharks occupy marine ecosystems across the world, but there is little difference in their shape. In their new study, Vullo et al. find that this lack of variation is not from limited morphological “exploration” in the past.
Morphological “exploration”: The tendency to change one’s appearance through evolution and acquiring new behaviors such as hunting techniques.
Romain Vullo and their team discover Aquilolamna milarcae, a remnant of the late Cretaceous period. The shark has many features similar to modern manta rays. Specifically, long and slender fins and a mouth seemingly adept for filter feeding. These features suggest that the shark was a plankton-eating filter feeder.
The study published in Science magazine indicates that elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) experimented evolutionarily with different forms. The study also discovers that planktivorous “soarers” emerged in sharks and ray groups at least 30 million years earlier than previously believed.
The shark fits into a new group of highly specialized long-winged sharks, Aquilolamnidae.