Modern elasmobranchs have an abundant fossil record – the authors aim to understand the geological history of extant elasmobranchs in their study by assessing the Pull of the Recent (POR). While the POR did not affect orders and families, it does affect 24% of elasmobranch genera. Pimiento and benton conclude that “the geological history of elasmobranchs contradicts the usual assumption that the fossil record becomes worse backwards in time”. More on the POR of elasmobranchs…