Shark Week

[Dean Nonychus]

So as I'm sure we all know, it's Shark Week y'all.

I wanted to know, what's everyone's favourite Prehistoric sharks?

Are we Megalodon fans? What about Helicoprions? Maybe we have a rogue Eel Shark fan in the group?

Also, fun shark facts and photos of pre-historic shark toys very much appreciated.

[Martwad]

Can't really say I have a favorite, but as an alumnist of Idaho State University, I'll say it's Helicoprion.

[CityRaptor]

Not really interested in sharks, but I would say Hybodus. I mean, this thing has been around from the Late Permian to the Late Cretaceous, that's rather impressive.

[laticauda]

I guess I am a fan of the weird.  My favorite type of sharks are the hammerheads, but if I am going to pick a prehistoric shark I suppose it would be Edestus.  A scissor-toothed shark that could grow to the size of a modern great white.  Awesome.

[Gwangi]

Sharks are some of my favorite animals, and always have been. But I have to admit that prehistoric sharks never caught my attention much. I think that's because I'm so fixated on the extant species. For the sake of answering the question though, I'll pick Xenacanthus, the freshwater shark from the Devonian. That there used to be more species of freshwater sharks fascinates me and I wish there were more extant freshwater sharks today. I'm probably in the minority on that one.

As for Shark Week. I started watching it before it was even called Shark Week. Originally it aired around the time of the Super Bowl, so it was called Shark Bowl. I remember the commercials for it with a cartoon scuba diver wearing a referee shirt, they really tried to apply the appeal of American football to sharks. It was weird. Anyway, back then I would record every episode of Shark Week onto VHS tapes. I still have the entire 1996 Shark Week. But even as far back as 20 years ago I began to notice just how sensational and exploitative Shark Week was. They would focus way too much attention on shark attacks (appealing when I was a kid) instead of on shark science, and conservation. And it's never changed, it's probably gotten worse. If it bleeds it leads, as they say. Occasionally they have some good content but I don't generally participate in Shark Week and have not for a long time. That said, I feel like the overall public attitude about sharks has improved over the years.

I'm actually reading the Steve Alten Meg series right now. I'm on book four. I was never interested in them because I already had an idea of what they were like and how sloppy the science was. But in much the same way I enjoy cheesy movies I am actually enjoying these books. They're making for a nice escape from the real-world issues we're all dealing with, helping me survive summer 2020.

[Dean Nonychus]

Gwangi, I never knew that about the origins of the event and I agree, when you've got species so diverse that Great Whites, Basking and Cow Sharks are under the same banner, you don't need to look too far back to find something fascinating.

[Halichoeres]

I'm the worst ichthyologist to have missed this thread. I love xenacanthids, but also the weird eellike sharks like Thrinacodus. But among sharks in the broad, loose sense (including all the chondrichthyans), I have to say iniopterygians. They're just so fantastically weird.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Megalodon