The frilled shark . . . is still a shark | The Institute for Creation Research

The frilled shark . . . is still a shark

On January 21, 2015 the news broke—an Australian fisherman hooked a "living fossil." Called the frilled (or frill) shark (genus Chlamydoselachus, belonging to Order Hexanchiformes), this creature was thought to be 80 million years old.1 It looks mighty frightening, but is it truly "prehistoric" and somehow linked to shark evolution?

In 1884, American taxonomist S.W. Garman described the supposedly extinct unique frilled shark. It has hundreds of needle-sharp teeth unlike those of any other living shark, an enlarged mouth, and an eel-like body. Like other hexanchids, Chlamydoselachus has a single dorsal fin and a long caudal (tail) fin. One fossil of Notidanoides muensteri dates from the late Jurassic, supposedly 150 million years ago. Today, there are five extant (living) species of hexanchiforms, including the deep-water cow shark.

But the frilled shark is clearly not an evolutionary transition. Hexanchiforms are 100 percent sharks—not missing links. Evolutionist Barbara Stahl lists them with modern sharks.2

A 2020 edition of a zoology dictionary makes no mention of the frilled shark being a missing link or an evolutionary transition.3 A 2011 dictionary of biology edited by Eleanor Lawrence does not even mention it.4 Michael Benton's latest edition of Vertebrate Paleontology does not list Chlamydoselachus.5

Virtually all the proposed "transitional sharks" are easily recognized as sharks, showing only that a wide variety of sharks and other cartilaginous fishes existed in the past, just as they do today.6,7 There is undoubted variation within the shark kind, as is expected on the basis of creation, but none of the supposed transitions suggest that cartilaginous fish evolved from or into any other major group. Like all sharks, the frilled shark has always been a shark.

References

  1. 'Like a Horror Movie': Rare frilled shark caught off Australia. Fox News. Posted on foxnews.com on January 21, 2015, accessed January 26, 2015. [
  2. Stahl, B. 1985. Vertebrate History. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 186.
  3. Allaby, M. 2020. Oxford Dictionary of Zoology. UK: Oxford University Press, 126.
  4. Lawrence, E. 2011. Henderson's Dictionary of Biology. San Francisco: Pearson Publishers-Benjamin Cummings.
  5. Benton, M. 2015. Vertebrate Paleontology. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
  6. Thomas, B. Newly Named Fish an Evolutionary Enigma. Creation Science Update. Posted on icr.org October 6, 2014, accessed January 13, 2015.
  7. Sherwin, F. and B. Thomas. 2012. Hybrid Sharks and Evolutionary Storytelling. Acts & Facts. 41 (3): 16-17.

Image credit: Copyright © 2010 Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0. Adapted for use in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holders.

* Mr. Sherwin is Research Associate, Senior Lecturer, and Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on February 2, 2015.

The Latest
NEWS
''Bird-Like'' Tracks Before Birds
Scientists have found what appears to be fossil bird tracks in rocks claimed to be 60 million years older than the oldest bird fossils.1...

NEWS
December 2023 ICR Wallpaper
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 NKJV ICR...

NEWS
Renowned Chemist on Origin-of-Life: Put Up Or Shut Up
For some time now, renowned and award-winning Rice University chemist and outspoken Christian Dr. James Tour has been exposing the fact that origin-of-life...

NEWS
Butterflies and Cancer Detection
It’s something right out of science fiction. The beautiful, flighty butterfly has been discovered to have cancer detection properties via the...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Good Stewards
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Rainbows
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Gemstones & Jewels
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Black Holes
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Ice Age
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...

ACTS & FACTS
Kids Edition 2023: Dinosaurs & Birds
Hi, kids! We created a special Acts & Facts just for you! Have fun doing the activities while learning about the wonderful world God...