Sharkophile

The latest shark news, photos and videos

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Shark DNA discovered through seawater testing

A new method of DNA analysis can help researchers determine populations of ocean creatures, including sharks, by identifying genetic markers found in their environment’s waters, according to research published this week in the journal, Science Advances. The new technology can recover fragments of DNA from shark skin, excretions and blood in the water. Using samples taken […]

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Study seeks explanation for basking shark aggregations

Researchers are hoping to understand why large groups of basking sharks, sometimes over 1,000 at a time are aggregating in waters from Nova Scotia to Long Island regularly. In a recent study reported in the Journal of Fish Biology, researchers analyzed aggregations of basking sharks recorded off the northeastern United States coast to learn more about […]

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Scientists detail evolution of sharks’ electroreceptive senses

A recent study led by Benedict King And John Long and published in the journal Palaeontology, details how this electroreception may have evolved in placoderm fishes, the evolutionary ancestor of all modern sharks. The sharks’ electroreceptors, also known as ampullae of Lorenzini, are jelly-filled tubes that open on the surface of sharks’ skin. Inside, each tube ends […]

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Scientists estimate white shark populations off Australian coast

According to research from CSIRO, approximately 8,000 great white sharks roam the waters off Australia. Using genetic and statistical analysis of DNA extracted from juvenile sharks, the total population estimate included about 2,210 sexually mature adults. Using statistical methods, the researchers were able to estimate how many adults had produced juveniles. Researchers hail the study, […]

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Scientists discover new species of six gill shark

Using DNA analysis researchers from the Florida Institute of Technology have confirmed that sixgill sharks residing in the Atlantic Ocean are an independent species from those found in the Indian and Pacific. The report was published this week in the journal Marine Biodiversity. The new species will now be known as Atlantic sixgill shark, or Hexanchus […]

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Shark skin could unlock secrets of aerodynamics

The unique properties of shark skin may provide engineers with the inspiration to create more aerodynamic machines, researchers say. A team of evolutionary biologists and engineers at Harvard University, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of South Carolina, have discovered a bioinspired structure that could improve the aerodynamic performance of planes, wind turbines, drones […]

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Microplastics a giant hazard to ocean’s largest sharks

According to a new study, microplastic pollution can put filter-feeding animals such as manta rays and whale sharks at risk. Researchers are still determining to what extent small pieces of plastic can impact marine life and ecosystems over the long term. The study, published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, by researchers from the Marine […]

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New ‘super shark’ dates back 300-million years

Previously, giant sharks had only been recovered from rock dating back 130 million years, during the age of the dinosaurs. The largest shark that ever lived, commonly called “Megalodon,” is much younger, with an oldest occurrence at about 15 million years ago. This means the new fossils from Texas indicate giant sharks go much further […]

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Hammerhead nursery discovered in Galapagos

Researchers from Ecuador have discovered a hammerhead shark nursery in the Galapagos Islands, nearly 1,000 miles off the coast of South America. This remote sanctuary has likely remained relatively pristine for over a million years. “It was quite by chance that we found this natural nursery for baby hammerheads, a species that is under a high […]

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