Mysterious Shark With 'Human' Teeth Discovered In Australia
A mysterious?shark discovered in Australia has researchers perplexed because it has 'human' teeth. Here's what all we know,
Australian shark weirdly has 'human-like' teeth?
The Hornshark—or heterodontus marshallae in Latin—was discovered 75 feet below the surface of the water close off Australia's northwestern coast.?It has multiple rows of human-like fangs inside its terrifying mouth and is unlike any shark previously discovered on Earth.?The Australian National Fish Collection examined the shark earlier this year.
"This order of sharks resembles fossils of long-extinct sharks due to similar morphology, including spines," stated ANFC fish biologist Helen O'Neill. "But we now know they're not related."
"Heterodontiformes have a distinct body shape as well as 'horns' formed by crests just above their eyes.?They prefer to sit on the sea floor and feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans,"?Helen further 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?
Six more from the same family have been discovered over time, but none of them had teeth like this one.It has also been established that the one discovered was male.?
"We prefer to use males for shark holotypes because they have claspers, which are external reproductive organs that differ between species and help us tell them apart," Helen explained.?
"I believe we would have seen specimens of such a distinct species because they are mostly in shallow water, where exploration has been extensive in most places. However, I could just as easily be wrong."?
The shark is not regarded as a threat to people, and yet more is to be learned about the animal.
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