A mysterious shark discovered in Australia has researchers stumped because it has “human” teeth. This is what all we know,
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- Australian shark has strangely ‘human’ teeth
- Other sharks did not have similar teeth.
Australian shark has strangely ‘human’ teeth
ANFC
The Hornshark, or heterodontus marshallae in Latin, was discovered 75 feet below the water’s surface near the northwest coast of Australia. It has multiple rows of human-like fangs inside its terrifying mouth and is unlike any shark previously discovered on Earth. Australia’s National Fish Collection examined the shark earlier this year.
“This order of sharks resembles fossils of long-extinct sharks due to their similar morphology, including spines,” said ANFC fish biologist Helen O’Neill. “But now we know they are not related.”
CSIRO
“Herodontiforms have a distinct body shape, as well as ‘horns’ made up of ridges just above the eyes. They prefer to sit on the sea floor and feed mainly on molluscs and crustaceans,” Helen revealed.
“They have a small mouth but crushing jaws that are huge relative to the size of their skull and powerful enough to crush cowrie shells.”
Other sharks did not have similar teeth.
Over time, six more from the same family have been discovered, but none had teeth like this one. It has also been established that the discovered person was a man.
“We prefer to use males for shark holotypes because they have pincers, which are external reproductive organs that differ between species and help us differentiate them,” Helen explained.
“I think we would have seen specimens of such a distinct species because they are mostly found in shallow water, where exploration has been extensive in most places. However, I could also be wrong.”
The shark is not considered a threat to people and there is still much to learn about this animal.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn