The Great White Shark derived from a series of evolutionary advancements that took several billion years. It began with the derivation of the vertebrates—the Phylum
Sharks live in almost every part of the oceans, from coastal environments to deep-sea habitats. They also live in the warm waters of the tropics to the cold frigid waters of
The popular name of the shark is the Smallfin gulper shark while its taxonomic name is the Centrophorus
When the word Shark comes to mind most people think of a monster that feeds on humans and is an enemy of all living beings. Contrary to popular belief less than 10 percent of sharks are known to attack humans unprovoked. Sharks are classified under the class of Chondrichthyes, which is fish that have characteristics of a skeleton made of cartilage, jaws, paired fins, and paired nostrils. The superorders are divided into two groups, which are Batoidea that have rays and their relatives and Selachii, which are sharks. Scientists have found isolated spines, teeth, and scales that appeared 350 to 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period known as "Age of Fishes". Most modern sharks have evolved 100 million years ago when dinosaurs lived on earth. (Matthews, 1989) Sharks have been known to inhabit tropical and temperate seas as well as some cold and polar seas. Migration of sharks is poorly understood due to not all species migrating. And in the species that do migrate the distance may be short or long and is based on availability of the food and environmental cycles. One American biologist Eugenie Clark is the world leader in shark study, she was the first person to learn how sharks behaved in captivity and how well sharks had the ability to understand.
All animals under go a process of constant change in their physical appearance and in their behaviour. These changes take place over millions of years and the species that survive, do so because throughout their evolution they have perfected certain strategies that have enabled them to develop more successfully in the environment they inhabit. One such case of this successful development is the great hammerhead shark.
The shark may once have been the top predator in the oceans, but Nature and natural selection have decided that that title now belongs to humans. We kill and eat sharks (by enjoying shark fin soup) just as we consume huge quantities of other fish and animals. Get over it!
The important factors that sharks give to our education and environment is outstanding, yet also having an open mind about the dangers they are facing now our future generations can hopefully see a living shark or hear about them. By learning some interesting facts about these creatures can hopefully make you more participating towards knowing more about what they go through in life. Even if it is searching up on the internet about Shark Finning can go a long way. Luckily, many organization have recognized the dangers that sharks are in now and they are trying their best to ban slaughtering Sharks. Lastly, our relationship with sharks have not been on best terms lately, however, if by learning more about them can actually save a whole ecosystem, it is worth a try to lend a hand.
Most people think that sharks are large, fast-swimmers, and savage predators. This is true of some species and groups should be interested of the appealing aspects of biology found within it: all sharks have an excellent sense of smell; some can detect electrical discharges; some sharks give birth to one of the
Sharks are some of the most ancient species that have ever existed on the Earth, dating back over 400 million years; well before the time of the dinosaurs. There are around 500 distinct varieties of sharks and due to shark finning, some shark populations have decreased by approximately 90% . The diversity in sharks ranges from the breathtaking to the mundane to the downright eerie. Previously thought to be strictly saltwater animals, some species are also known to live in freshwater . Sharks are extra sensory animals and can detect the slightest changes in their environment. They can hear sounds inaudible to humans for over a mile, and can sense the smallest pressure changes around their bodies; both are key in a sharks hunting ability
Mojetta and Discovery Channel had a lot of strong data on prehistoric sharks. The information that was presented in their text gives people knowledge of prehistoric sharks characteristics, time frame they lived in and the remains of these creatures. These bits of information might raise more questions for people about evolution. There have been many different species of prehistoric sharks discovered throughout the years.
Sharks have also been subjected to medical research, games and competitions, jewellery, souvenirs and cosmetics. We need to take into consideration that sharks play a vital role in the natural world that we live in. it is imperative that we look after these majestic creatures and ensure they remain protected. We need to be aware of the dangers of sharks, swim in protected areas where there are shark nets, and do not swim after dark in the sea (especially not alone) as the sea is the sharks home. Humans should also be wearing wet suits as protection in the ocean. The sea is where they live, they swim freely and they eat – they do not particularly target humans but rather prey on food that is available to them in their habitat.
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
The morphology of whale sharks is mostly similar to aquatic fish species, but many specific traits help differentiate them from the rest. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world and can reach a size of around 20 meters (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). This is often compared to the size of a school bus. The shark has a very large transverse mouth. They have 5 very large gill slits and have a larger first dorsal fin compared to the second one (Whale Shark). They have a distinctive spotted “checkerboard” pattern with stripes (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). It is not exactly known why they have this specific body marking. It is believed that the body markings act as a camouflage. The strange thing about whale sharks is that they have 300 rows of teeth that play no role in feeding (Martins, C., and C. Knickle).
Due to the large expanse and sheer size of the whale shark much of the species lifecycle is unknown. Although in recent years some aquariums have created exhibits large enough to contain the whale shark enabling more thorough research.