Sealed on Base.

{"canonicalPath":"/v/sharks-are-older-than-trees-6oxn3","receipt":{"challengePrompt":"Have a source showing trees predate the shark lineage, or that the claim means only modern shark species? Send it for a counter-check.","claim":"Sharks are older than trees.","confidence":"High","createdAt":"2026-06-18T11:11:23.500Z","kicker":"Shark-lineage fossils predate the first true trees by tens of millions of years.","paidAt":"2026-06-18T11:11:23.499Z","reasons":[{"body":"Shark-like cartilaginous fishes appear in the fossil record roughly 400+ million years ago, often cited around 450 million years ago for early shark relatives.","stance":"supports","title":"Shark lineage is very ancient"},{"body":"The first forests and tree-like plants are associated with the Devonian, roughly 390–360 million years ago. That is later than early shark-lineage fossils.","stance":"supports","title":"Trees came later in the Devonian"},{"body":"The claim is broad. It is true for the shark lineage, not for every living shark species. Many modern shark species evolved much more recently.","stance":"context","title":"Lineage, not living species"}],"score":90,"shareLine":"FactPage check: TRUE — sharks, as a lineage, are older than trees.","slug":"sharks-are-older-than-trees-6oxn3","sources":[{"publisher":"Encyclopaedia Britannica","title":"Shark","url":"https://www.britannica.com/animal/shark","usedFor":"General reference on sharks and their fossil history."},{"publisher":"University of California Museum of Paleontology","title":"Devonian Period","url":"https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/devonian/devonian.php","usedFor":"Context on Devonian forests and early land plants."},{"publisher":"Smithsonian Ocean","title":"Sharks","url":"https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/sharks","usedFor":"Public science summary of shark evolution and deep fossil history."}],"summary":"The claim is basically right. Shark-lineage animals are known from hundreds of millions of years ago, before true trees and forests appeared on land. The caveat is that this refers to the shark lineage, not every modern shark species.","vaultCategory":"Internet","verdict":"TRUE"},"type":"factpage.receipt","version":"fp-receipt-v1"}