The earliest sharks (class Chondrichthyes) first appeared in the Early Devonian about 400 million years ago, became quite prominent by the end of the Devonian, and are still successful today.

How long have Chondrichthyes been around?

Cartilaginous fishes, class Chondrichthyes, consisting of sharks, rays and chimaeras, appeared by about 395 million years ago, in the middle Devonian, evolving from acanthodians.

Where did Chondrichthyes evolve from?

The cartilaginous fishes (Class Chondrichthyes) comprising chimaeras, sharks, skates, and rays are the oldest living group of jawed vertebrates that diverged from a common ancestor of bony vertebrates (Osteichthyes: ray-finned fishes, coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods) in the early Silurian about 420 Ma (Benton et ...