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Palaeontology

Prehistoric shark found off coast of Portugal

By T.K. Randall
November 12, 2017 · Comment icon 12 comments

This ancient species was around during the time of the dinosaurs. Image Credit: Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0
Considered to be a 'living fossil', the frilled shark has remained unchanged for over 80 million years.
The extremely rare shark, which would have swam the prehistoric seas at the same time Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops roamed the land, is only seldom observed by scientists.

Usually found up to 4,200ft beneath the surface, the frilled shark can grow up to 6ft and possesses a unique set of gills that, unlike those of other fish, stretch all the way across its throat.
It also has a particularly unusual set of teeth designed to help it latch on to its prey.

This latest specimen, which was caught off the Algarve coast, was discovered by European Union researchers who were working on a project to 'minimize unwanted catches in commercial fishing'.

In total, only a very small number of frilled sharks have ever been observed alive.



Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (12)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #3 Posted by Amanda Evans 6 years ago
What a fearsome looking creature. Probably the source of Sea Serpent myths.
Comment icon #4 Posted by _KB_ 6 years ago
That's even more creepy than my middle school physics teacher... JK i'd definitely pick running in to this thing while chilling out at the beach over him...
Comment icon #5 Posted by Myles 6 years ago
I'd guess there was no reason to evolve.
Comment icon #6 Posted by third_eye 6 years ago
Yup, just ask Megalodon , and maybe soon enough ... the Great WHites, the Tigers ... or most other highly evolved sharks for that matter ... ~
Comment icon #7 Posted by khol 6 years ago
Fished at 700metres holy crap!  2300feet   I'll go 200' trolling for salmon and think Im waaaay down there. What an interesting animal and a real survivor. Its sad tho it has to be killed for research. I suppose at these depths techniques for study are limited
Comment icon #8 Posted by Alaric 6 years ago
Evolution took one look at that face... and all of a sudden remembered it had something really important to do somewhere else...
Comment icon #9 Posted by Michelle 6 years ago
Comment icon #10 Posted by godnodog 6 years ago
Probably it is your concept of theory of evolution that is incorrect, go read about it. Evolution is about adaptation, not evolution per se, if the species hasnt changed in 80M years is because its  anatomy is well adjusted to its environment, even if that environment has changed,
Comment icon #11 Posted by Piney 6 years ago
Adversity drives evolution so If a creature's environment is what it needs it doesn't have to evolve.
Comment icon #12 Posted by thefourthhaunting 6 years ago
A thing of which nightmares are made of!


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