Interesting Information About Sharks

Sharks have ruled the seas for millions of years, swanning the waters even before land vertebrates populated the earth. Over millenaries, sharks have evolved into one of the foremost predators of the sea. They are excellent hunters and voracious eaters with a reputation so fierce that they are considered one of the most feared fishes. Their streamlined body and hundreds of serrated teeth in massive jaws makes it almost impossible for any prey to escape when shark has set its sight on it. Their huge size and power and vicious reputation has been an object of fear and fascination for humans. In reality, sharks are not the monsters of the seas as media and film portrayals make them out to be. Compared to sharks, the bee kills far more humans every year. If you want to know more on these supposedly killing machines, then continue reading further for some interesting and amazing facts on sharks.

Fast Facts 

Scientific Name: Selachimorpha
Type: Pisces
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Diet: Carnivorous
Size: 15 cm to 14 meters (average)
Weight: Up to 21.5 tonnes
Lifespan: 20 to 30 years; Spiny Dogfish and Whale Sharks: up to 100 years
Habitat: Oceans and seas
Sexual Maturity: 12 years to 15 years
Gestation Period: 8 to 24 months
Number Of Pups: 1 to 100

Interesting And Fun Facts About Sharks

• Sharks do not have bones in their body. Instead, their entire skeleton is made of cartilage, which is a very sturdy.
• The skin of a shark is covered with denticles instead of scales, which are like small razor sharp teeth that protect the skin from injury.
• Sharks have very strong senses, making them very successful predators. It, perhaps, has the strongest sense of smell in the animal world as it uses two-third of its brain in this activity. It can smell a drop of blood from miles away. It can also sense vibrations in water and can detect the movements made by their prey from hundreds of feet away. Sharks have a very strong sense of hearing and they can hear sounds from thousands of feet away. They can even sense the direction from which the sound is coming. Some sharks also have good vision enabling them to hunt even in murky water.
• One fish that gets the better of sharks is the Puffer Fish. Sharks do not eat these fish as it inflates like a balloon inside the mouth and pokes with its sharp needles.
• There are 440 species of sharks found worldwide, with the smallest being the Dwarf Lantern Shark, which is about 17 cm in length and the largest being the Whale Shark, which can reach a staggering 12 meters.
• Though it may sound surprising, it’s a fact that bees and wasps kill more people than sharks.
• Sharks have inhabited the earth for more than 400 million years. That is long before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. They have also undergone very little evolution in the last 150 million years.
• Sharks can move both their upper and lower jaws unlike other animals. They also have the most powerful jaws in the whole planet.
• Sharks cannot chew. They bite their prey and toss it back and forth to tear a piece and swallow it whole.
• Sharks never lose their teeth as they have rows and rows of backup teeth. In its lifetime, a shark will grow and use about 20,000 teeth. Their teeth are serrated, which makes their bite particularly vicious.
• Sharks are also known to cannibalize.
• They are very fast swimmers and can swim at a speed of about 70 km/hr.
• Large sharks like the basking shark and the whale shark are very harmless. They also feed exclusively on plankton, straining the tiny creatures from the water at the back of their throat.
• The most ferocious sharks are the Great White Shark, the Tiger Shark, the Hammerhead Shark and the Bull Shark. All these are responsible for most shark attacks on humans.
• Sharks reproduce in three ways. Some species lays eggs, in some the babies grow inside the mother while in some the eggs hatch inside the mother and are born later. Baby sharks are called “pups”. Depending upon the species, sharks can lay 1 to 100 pups. After the babies are born, they are left to fend on their own.