Genomes shake up the shark family tree

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Developers of the computer game Doom released the game's code in 1997, allowing scientists to use it as part of their research.

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The classic 1993 first-person shooter Doom has also spawned a subculture in which people port the game to devices never intended to play a videogame, from satellites to digital pregnancy tests.

Last month, scientists taught neurons grown on a silicon chip to play the game .

“Making something silly doesn’t take any less work than making something really technical,” says software developer and PhD candidate Mars Buttfield-Addison.

A genomic study of dozens of species and their close relatives suggests that all sharks might not be part of the same biological group , contrary to what studies using more-limited genetic data have suggested.

When researchers looked at some ‘ultra-conserved’ parts of the genome, they found that a peculiar family of sharks called Hexanchiformes might be part of an evolutionary lineage that is distinct from the group that includes all other sharks, as well as skates and rays.

Such hair-splitting doesn’t keep most scientists awake at night.

But accurate family trees can help researchers to chart the evolution of key traits.

Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)
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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00859-4
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