The Ancients17 Jul 2025

The First Sharks

Long before the first dinosaurs, the first trees or even the formation of the rings of Saturn, our planet's oceans were ruled by prehistoric sharks.

Across two special episodes of The Ancients this week, Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor John Long to journey back 300 million years and dive into the deep history of sharks – from their humble origins to their golden age as apex predators. In today's episode John takes us on a whirlwind tour from the first sharks to a beast who had "Jaws and teeth that were giant wheels of death" - the Helicopron. Join us to unpack just how sharks evolved into one of the most successful lineages in Earth’s history - it’s an adventure through 400 million years of evolution, extinction, and dominance in the prehistoric seas.

Welcome to our week of Sharks!

MORE

Tyrannosaurus Rex

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3uxH3HHjSuEk0mHmjFU9k7

The First Dogs

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fpF68aiJUIbMv6AzXxfC6

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

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