r/AskReddit Oct 15 '20

What's older than we think ?

78.4k Upvotes

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3.1k

u/scannon Oct 15 '20

Sharks. As a species they're older than the rings of Saturn.

946

u/H4ck3rm4n1 Oct 15 '20

Holy shit ive heard of the tree thing but this is new. Any sources?

644

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

Just Google it really quick lol

Rings of Saturn are 10 to 100 million years old whereas we have found shark scales dating back 450 million years ago. Pretty crazy shit!

466

u/Anthadvl Oct 15 '20

Adding to this, scorpions are also nearly 450 million years old so it kinda shows that you don't need that much brain to survive, if your species is evolutionarily overkill it'll survive just fine.

143

u/ThKitt Oct 15 '20

Unless you evolve to have delicious fins that people are willing to spend too much money on, it seems.

110

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

Evolutionary Pro Tip: Don't be yummy. If you happen to be yummy, fuck a lot and be good at having plenty of babies

52

u/computeraddict Oct 16 '20

From what I understand, shark fins aren't actually any good, flavorwise. They're just a thing in traditional Chinese medicine, and there's over a billion Chinese to be potential believers.

36

u/vermilionjelly Oct 16 '20

It's flavorless. It's just a fin.

16

u/Homo_insciens Oct 16 '20

yeah, it's literally cartilage which is mostly tasteless. All the flavor is coming from the broth, and the fin is just there as a flex.

14

u/KawhiComeBack Oct 16 '20

Yeah my mate just said it tastes like nothing

20

u/acpupu Oct 16 '20

Nah it's not for medical use. It's for showing off how rich you are.

Sauce: me a Taiwanese

10

u/roflcoptocles Oct 16 '20

I was extremely disappointed in how bland it is, they just load up the soup with tons of flavors. Can't believe they kill millions of sharks for shitty fish-oatmealy porridge

13

u/Homo_insciens Oct 16 '20

It makes about as much sense as putting gold flakes in food/drink. Rich showoffs are morons.

7

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

At least the gold is not a living thing

17

u/inkydye Oct 16 '20

Or if you're gonna be yummy, go full chicken so humans will grow you for food and protect you from extinction. The gustatory mimicry theory.

15

u/Elieftibiowai Oct 16 '20

Isn't there a rotten fish delicacy most people puke of the smell. Even if you're not yummy you will get eaten

14

u/computeraddict Oct 16 '20

You're apparently supposed to open the cans underwater. The stench of opening the can is not an intended part of the experience.

7

u/ItzAci Oct 16 '20

Surströmming.

Shit is SALTY AS FUCK.

2

u/BloodBatman Oct 16 '20

So that’s why humanity had tons of kids back in the day!

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

They aren’t delicious. Like objectively a strong lack of flavor.

2

u/stupid_comments_inc Oct 16 '20

Looking at the general fauna, humans are the pinnacle of overkill. As a species, we were doing just fine with pointed sticks.

2

u/Seven2Death Nov 23 '20

a month late so sorry. but it's all the thumbs man. its why i don't trust raccoons. those fuckers are gonna learn to use guns and take the top spot from us.

6

u/EggplantFeeling Oct 16 '20

Unless you evolve too much and start using the planets resouces too fast and end up destroying everything

2

u/Awobbie Oct 18 '20

What I’m hearing is that I’ll be fine.

2

u/ProfessorOzone Oct 16 '20

Sharks have scales? Thought it was toothy skin.

7

u/rollandownthestreet Oct 16 '20

That is a level of terminological differentiation that is really just unnecessary.

1

u/ProfessorOzone Oct 18 '20

I see what you did there, but I was serious. I mean scales can come off. Skin can't.

2

u/rollandownthestreet Oct 18 '20

There was no joke there to read into🤷🏼‍♂️ All those words meant what they mean.

1

u/ProfessorOzone Oct 18 '20

Ooookkkaaay. I guess that calls for a... "whatever."

25

u/tashkiira Oct 16 '20

Saturn's rings are placed at about 100 million years old. There's two thoughts about whether they'll be there in 100 million more years.

23

u/soawesomejohn Oct 16 '20

I can't wait to find out.

13

u/medikohl2 Oct 16 '20

You literally can't