The frilled shark is a surviving fossil

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

The frilled shark is a fish from the Cretaceous period that has incredibly survived to this day. It lives in the oceans, with the exception of the Arctic, at great depths, in the bottom layer. It practically does not rise to the surface, therefore it is extremely rare. There have been cases of this shark being caught off the coast of Europe and North Africa, South America, California, and Japan.

This fish got its name from the unusual folds of fibers that cover the first pair of gill openings. They join on the ventral side and resemble a cloak or collar. Its body is long (about 2 m), snake-like, brown tones. Females are slightly longer than males. Eyes oval, without nictitating membrane. The prehistoric shark has a cartilaginous spine that is not divided into vertebrae. The caudal fin is represented by only one blade. Large fins are located next to each other closer to the tail.

The frilled shark has a prominent mouth cavity located on the end of the snout, and not on the lower part, as in modern fish. The teeth vaguely resemble a crown, five-pointed, hook-shaped. The arrangement of the teeth is unusual: small ones in front, and large ones behind, which is not typical forsharks The total number of teeth is about three hundred, and all are very sharp. The jaws are long, able to stretch to swallow prey without biting it. When hunting, the shark bends its body and rushes at its prey, like a snake.

Prehistoric sharks are largely unexplored due to their deep sea habitat. Only a few cases are known when such specimens were caught alive. The last time this happened was in January 2007. Not far from the boat of a Japanese fisherman, something emerged that he had not seen before. The fisherman reported what he saw to the administration of the Awashima Park (Honshu Island, Shizuoka City). The Japanese not only caught, but also photographed this predator. The fish was 1.6 m long, wriggling like an eel. She counted 300 teeth, in 25 rows. The frilled shark was placed in a pool of sea water, but died a few hours later. Most likely, the disease caused her to rise from the depths of the ocean. It remains only to build hypotheses about this.

The frilled shark has no commercial value, as it is extremely rare. And each meeting of her with a person is a whole event (for a person, of course). Most often, such "dates" are accidental. People set up bottom nets to catch shrimp. And pulling out the net, they see only rags, so Japanese fishermen consider them pests.

Recently, the number of meetings of the cloaked people with people has increased. But scientists tend to believe that this is due to a rise in the temperature of the oceans, and not because of an increase inthe number of these predators. There is not enough air on the ocean floor, and the preserved prehistoric living creatures are forced to look for a new habitat. So, in 2012, Murmansk fishermen pulled out a "historical" catch. In the waters of the Barents Sea, they came across the oldest representative of sharks.

Without disappearing or undergoing significant changes, the frilled shark may regain power over the depths of the sea, becoming their full-fledged inhabitant.