Like humans, sharks have rods and cones in their eyes that respond to light, but humans have three types of cones that enable color vision. In contrast, sharks lack multiple cone types, so even those with a high cone count, like the black tip shark and bull shark, can only see in black and white.
Instead, they are made of a rubbery tissue called cartilage. That's made it more difficult for scientists to study ancient sharks, since cartilage typically doesn't preserve as well as bones do — early shark fossil records are mostly based on scales and teeth.