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Prehistoric, Dinosaur-Era Shark With Insane Teeth Found Swimming Off Coast of Portugal

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November 11, 2017, 07:02 PM
Sig2340
Prehistoric, Dinosaur-Era Shark With Insane Teeth Found Swimming Off Coast of Portugal
quote:
URL=http://www.newsweek.com/dinosaur-era-frilled-shark-insane-teeth-found-portugal-708764]Newsweek.com[/URL]

The rare frilled shark is considered a “living fossil,” as its makeup has remained unchanged for 80 million years. This summer, researchers found one alive and thriving off the coast of Portugal, adding evidence regarding the resilience of this ancient sea creature.

The shark was discovered off the Algarve coast by researchers who were working on a European Union project in the area, the BBC reported. The aim of the project was to "minimize unwanted catches in commercial fishing," but the team unknowingly unearthed one of the rarest and most ancient animals on the planet.

The frilled shark has remained the same, both inside and out, since the time of the dinosaurs, with scientists dating it back to the Cretaceous Period, a time when the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops still roamed the planet. The creature is incredibly simply and unevolved, most likely due to the lack of nutrients found in its deep-sea dwellings, a previous Japanese study on the shark suggested. The examination revealed that its diet is 61 percent cephalopods—the same class that squids and octopus belong to.



This fish is rarely seen by humans but has lived on the Earth since long before man. Awashima Marine Park/Getty Images

This deep sea dweller is usually found between 390 and 4,200 feet below the surface, which is why it’s rarely seen and wasn’t even discovered before the 19th century (despite being around long before man).

The shark caught this summer measured around five feet in length, but at their longest can be around six-and-a-half feet, IFL Science reported. The Japanese study on these rare sharks showed that they may also have the longest gestation period of any living creature, 42 months.

While its name may sound unfitting for a beast that swims the deep seas, according to Mental Floss, the frilled shark is named after its gills. Pretty much all other sharks have separate gills, but the frilled shark’s first pair of gills stretch all the way across its throat. In total, the shark has six pairs of gills that have “frilly” edges.

The shark also has a unique mouth shape. Its jaw has more than 300 teeth neatly lined in 25 rows, which, according to professor Margarida Castro of the University of the Algarve, are specifically designed to help it “to trap squid, fish and other sharks in sudden lunges,” The Portugal News reported. It’s lined with spines called dermal denticles, which, combined with the teeth, give the mouth an all around frightening look.

All in all, it’s unlikely you will ever come face-to-face with a living frilled shark, but if you do, it’s safe to stay: Keep as far away as you can, and whatever you do, try to avoid its ferociously awesome jaw.






Nice is overrated

"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
November 11, 2017, 07:10 PM
marksman41
Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water... Frilly Shark.




November 11, 2017, 07:17 PM
WaterburyBob
Nessie !



"If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards
November 11, 2017, 07:57 PM
rusbro
A new, old-ass, underwater ally!
November 11, 2017, 08:00 PM
Il Cattivo
Well, I'll be. Some critter actually evolved oral coral.
November 11, 2017, 08:23 PM
Spokane228
Always happy when nature can still surprise us.
November 11, 2017, 08:26 PM
AUTiger89
All it needs are some frickin laser beams on its head.




Phone's ringing, Dude.
November 11, 2017, 08:55 PM
jbcummings
Freakin nightmare of a critter. I wouldn’t want to be diving and find that thing stalking me.


———-
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup.
November 11, 2017, 11:31 PM
just1tym
And here I was thinking they finally caught up with a Megalodon! Here is a photo of a comparison of regular Great White shark teeth and a Megalodon shark tooth...Imagine that if you will Eek




Regards, Will G.
November 11, 2017, 11:38 PM
Jim Shugart
I don't think I would try to pet him or scratch him behind his ears.



When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw
November 11, 2017, 11:49 PM
FN in MT
quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Nessie !


Does make You think doesn't it.

I saw the Coelecanth (sorry for the spelling) in Capetown RSA at the Museum. It was picked up in a net in the 50's. Thought to be extinct for millions and millions of years...yet they snagged one!

Hell....Godzilla could be down there .
November 11, 2017, 11:57 PM
Rey HRH
sushi!



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
November 12, 2017, 01:21 AM
mr kablammo
quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
sushi!


That is what I was thinking. Wake up Jiro!


"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
November 12, 2017, 04:49 AM
sgalczyn
quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Nessie !


ALIEN


"No matter where you go - there you are"
November 12, 2017, 06:08 AM
Chris42
5-6’ ? That is just the baby. I’m thinking Richard Dreyfus and Jaws. Maybe 50’-60’

“We’re going to need a bigger boat”....
November 12, 2017, 06:36 AM
lastmanstanding
Hmm...Buoys my hopes that Bigfoot does exist.


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
November 12, 2017, 07:18 AM
46and2
Looks like a Nopefish to me.