Arzucan Askin, a shark expert and National Geographic explorer, revealed in an interview that sharks are older than the North Star and other factoids. "So sharks have been around for almost 450 million years and that makes them older than trees and older than dinosaurs," she said. She added that compared to sharks, "the North Star is really a baby."
Before we get into the weeds on sharks, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration describes the North Star as the "brightest star in the sky." The star, often called "Polaris," sits directly above the Earth's north pole. And many use it to guide their way in the northern hemisphere.
However, comparing the age of sharks and the North Star has been circulating the web for a while. And many generally considered it true unless you get super technical. The fact-checking website Snopes reported that while there is evolutionary evidence showing sharks existed some 450 million years ago, Polaris actually consists of three stars of varying ages.
While astronomers think that the main component of the star, Polaris Aa, is around 50 million years old, they think the other two are older — like 500 million years old and/or 1.5 billion years old. And while astronomers can give an age range, the answer is still unclear.
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But don't make that your only takeaway about sharks
Being one of the oldest creatures on Earth, Askin explained that when she goes diving with sharks "it's a little bit like the modern version of Jurassic Park."
"Over the course of evolution, they have changed their size a little bit. They used to be much, much bigger," Askin said. "And if you looked at the drawings and how they have been made to approximate what they would have looked like, those really look like Pokemon."
She added: "But overall, a lot of their features really haven't changed and that's why we call them evolutionary masterpieces." Despite their historic and ecological significance, Askin explained that humans have managed to wipe out around 71% of the ocean's population of sharks in roughly 50 years.
The silver lining, according to Askin, is that cultures all over the world have deep connections with sharks. "And that's really the learnings we have to apply in contexts where that connection with these animals has been lost."
