Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, researchers find common ancestor

A NEW STUDY suggests that all jawed vertebrates, including humans and sharks, evolved from a shark-like fish that lived about 300 million years ago, Discovery reports.
 
Scientists came to the conclusion after analysis of a 290-million-year-old fossil braincase. Researchers say the braincase showed the 'shark' belongs to the same group as modern animals with jaws, the study, published in Nature, says.
 
"The common ancestors of all jawed vertebrates today organised their heads in a way that resembled sharks," study researcher John Finarelli, a vertebrate biologist at University College, Dublin, said in a statement.
 
"Given what we now know about the interrelatedness of early fishes, these results tell us that while sharks retained these features, bony fishes moved away from such conditions."

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/health-science/47430/common-ancestor-sharks-and-humans-revealed#ixzz1yqAXloTf

Of course the shock jocks are top of the nasty gabfeist, due to their primitive shark jaws gnarling at everything that moves...

Australian marine conservation pioneer and renowned shark expert Ron Taylor has died at the age of 78.

Mr Taylor suffered myeloid leukaemia for two years and died peacefully this morning at a private hospital near his Sydney home.

Mr Taylor and his wife Valerie are regarded worldwide for their marine conservation work and their groundbreaking marine documentaries.

A Member of the Order of Australia, Mr Taylor first became fascinated with marine life in the 1950s as a spear fisherman, but later decided to "hunt with a camera" instead of a spear.

He was the first photographer to capture images of a great white shark underwater without the protection of a diving cage.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-09/acclaimed-shark-expert-ron-taylor-dies/4251372?WT.svl=news0

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I met Ron and Valerie Taylor in the early 1970s, for a few photographic projects of course... It was before the days "extreme whatever sports and activities" were invented... Although quite modest, Ron and Valerie were doing "extreme" things, including showing these creatures, sharks, in action close up and also working hard for their protection, as well as showing the many other beauties of the watery world... Ron was very dedicated... My condolences to Valerie...

Taylor, a Sydney native, had a long love affair with the ocean but started out as a spear fisherman. In the 1950s, he had a change of heart in the middle of a spear fishing competition.

"I just thought: 'What am I doing down here killing these poor, defenceless marine creatures?'" he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005. "So I just packed up, went home – didn't even weigh my fish in – and never went back to another spear fishing competition."

He and Valerie went on to shoot several documentaries, including Shark Hunters and the TV series Inner Space, narrated by William Shatner. In Operation Shark Bite, Valerie wears a chain mail suit the couple designed to ward off damage from shark attacks, escaping without injury despite sharks chewing on her arm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/jaws-shark-cameraman-ron-taylor-dies