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.
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...
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
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,
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