Sharks, Parasites & Oldest Known Rock Art

Sharks, Parasites & Oldest Known Rock Art

From Lost in Science by Chris Lassig, Stuart Burns, Claire Farrugia and Linden Ashcroft.

March 18, 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses shark encounters and the oldest known rock art, exploring animal behavior and cultural development.

This week on Lost in Science, Claire chats with veterinary parasitologist Professor Shokoofeh Shamsi about the recent spate of shark encounters and why we still don’t fully understand animal behaviour in these moments. From parasites to changing ocean environments, it turns out there’s a whole ecosystem of missing pieces—and a growing call for deeper research to help us make sense of it all.Meanwhile, Linden takes us back tens of thousands of years to explore groundbreaking discoveries of the oldest known rock art in Sulawesi, Indonesia. What does this ancient artwork reveal about the human journey, cultural development, and the deep histories connected to First Nations Australians?

People in this episode

Host: Claire

Guest: Professor Shokoofeh Shamsi

Topics covered

  • sharks
  • parasites
  • rock art
  • animal behavior
  • ocean environments
  • cultural development

Keywords

  • ecosystem
  • research
  • First Nations Australians
  • Sulawesi
  • Indonesia

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Lost in Science

Places: Sulawesi, Indonesia

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