A new species of shark with human-like teeth has been discovered in Australia
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Scientists from Australia have discovered a new species of shark with bizarre, human-like molars that animals use to crush prey. This is reported by Live Science. The new species, named the painted horned shark (Heterodontus marshallae), is part of the order Heterodontiformes, which is classified by its unique body shape and small horns that protrude above its eyes. “This line of sharks resembles fossils of long-extinct sharks because of similar morphology, particularly the spines. But we now know they are not closely related,” says Helen O’Neill, a fish biologist at the Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC). Image: CSIRO According to research published on July 12 in the journal Diversity, the newly described species is only found in waters off north-western Australia, around 125 to 229 meters below the surface. Sharks have several rows of teeth and an unusually large jaw relative to the skull, which allows them to snack on molluscs and crustaceans. It is this group of sharks that evolved to be able to crush heavy prey using their molars. Upper and lower jaws of H. marshallae. Image: ANFC In November 2022, researchers at the Gascoigne Marine Park in Western Australia captured an adult male H. marshallae that was approximately 53 centimeters long. Compared to other Australian horn sharks, this species has a distinctive stripe pattern that makes it look like a zebra shark. However, zebra sharks (H. zebra) are found in shallow water and usually live near Indonesia or Japan. H. marshallae prefers the deeper oceans surrounding the coast of Australia. Ahead of the 2022 expedition, the researchers studied 6 specimens and an eggshell of what would later be identified as H. marshallae from museum collections across Australia. They had just classified a new species when they came across a live male. Researchers last described a species of shark in the order Heterodontiformes in 2005, and scientists are skeptical that they will find more of these underwater predators. Read also: Due to climate change, more than half of the species of reef sharks and rays may disappear
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