Are Sharks Even Sharks? New Genetic Study Could Rewrite Shark Evolution.

InnovationScienceAre Sharks Even Sharks? New Genetic Study Could Rewrite Shark Evolution.ByMelissa Cristina Márquez,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Márquez is a marine scientist and science communicatorFollow AuthorMay 23, 2026, 06:10am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Six-gill shark swimming in for an inspection of the Eye-in-the-Sea (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesThere are sharks — like the sleek reef sharks people plaster on beach warning signs or the torpedo-shaped great whites of documentaries — and then… there are sharks. Sharks like the frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus), that look less like an animal and more like a fossil that had accidentally wandered into the modern world with its eel-like body and rows of needle-like teeth that sit exposed in a permanent grin. Those do not look like the general picture people pull up in their minds when you say the word “shark.” Instead, they look like something evolution forgot to update. Now, new research suggests that impression may not be far from the truth.Scientists have long grouped sharks together as a natural evolutionary unit, meaning every shark species shares a common ancestor that rays and skates do not. It is one of those assumptions that became foundational in biology classrooms, museum exhibits and conservation discussions. Sharks are sharks. Rays are rays. Simple, right? Except a new genetic analysis posted to the preprint server bioRxiv challenges that long-standing “simple” view. The study, led by evolutionary biologist and PhD Candidate Chase Doran Brownstein and American evolutionary ichthyologist Dr. Thomas J. Near at Yale University, examined the genomes of 48 cartilaginous fish species (including sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras) to reconstruct the evolutionary family...