Australian scientists discover a new species of shark that has human-like molar teeth to crush its prey. Photo/CSIRO
MELBOURNE – Australian scientists discovered the species new shark which has human-like molar teeth to crush its prey. The new species, named painted hornshark or painted horn shark (Heterodontus marshallae), because the whole body has shades of color striped brown.
The painted horn shark is part of the order Heterodontiformes, which is classified by its unique body shape and small horn protruding from above its eyes. The horn shark is found only in the deep waters of northeastern Australia.
“This shark sequence resembles a long-extinct shark fossil because of its similar morphology, including the spines. But we know now they are not closely related,” said Helen O’Neill, a fish biologist at the Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) quoted by SINDOnews from the Live Science page, Wednesday (9/8/2023).
This newly described shark species is found only in the waters off northwest Australia, approximately 125 to 229 meters below the surface. They had multiple rows of teeth and jaws that were very large compared to their skulls, which allowed them to eat creatures such as mollusks and crustaceans.
“This species has evolved to use its molar-like teeth to crush heavy shelled prey. This shark has grappling teeth near the front teeth and large teeth like molars,” said Will White, ANFC senior curator and one of the horn shark researchers.
In a study published July 12 in the journal Diversity, researchers caught an adult male paintedhorn shark (Heterodontus marshallae) in the Gascoyne Marine Park in Western Australia in November 2022. The shark was about 53 centimeters long when measured from the tip of its snout to its caudal fin.
“Compared to other Australian horn sharks, this species has a distinctive stripe pattern. This pattern closely resembles that of the zebrahorn shark and was previously thought to be the same species,” White said.
(wib)
2023-08-09 11:44:02
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