How Many Bones Do Sharks Have? – 11 Interesting Facts About Sharks
Sharks have no bones. As they do not have any of the attributes that define a mammal, sharks are not mammals. For example, they are not warm-blooded. Sharks have known a species of fish, but the skeleton of a shark is formed of cartilage, unlike most fish.
Sharks use their gills to absorb oxygen from the water. They are an exceptional breed of fish identified as “elasmobranchs”, which converts into fish made of cartilaginous tissues, the definite gristly equipment that your ears and nose tip are made of. This category also includes skates, sawfish, and rays. Their cartilaginous skeletons are much lighter than true bone and their large livers are full of low-density oils, both benefiting them to be buoyant.
Even though sharks don’t have bones, they still can fossilize. As most sharks age, they deliver calcium salts in their skeletal cartilage to strengthen it. The dehydrated jaws of a shark arrive and feel heavy and solid; considerably like bone. These same minerals allow most shark skeletal systems to fossilize quite beautifully. The teeth have enamel so they show up in the fossil record too.
1. Most sharks have good eyesight.
Most sharks can see appropriately in dark-lighted areas, have incredible night vision, and can see colors. The back of sharks’ eyeballs has a reflective slab of tissue called a tapetum.
This helps sharks see exceptionally well with little light.
2. Sharks have special electroreceptor organs.
Sharks have small black spots near the nose, mouth, and eyes. These areas are the ampullae of Lorenzini, special electroreceptor organs that grant the shark to sense electromagnetic fields and temperature shifts in the ocean.
3. Sharkskin feels similar to sandpaper.
Sharkskin feels the same as sandpaper because it is made up of tiny teeth-like structures called placoid scales, also recognized as dermal denticles. These scales point towards the tail and help reduce friction from surrounding water when the shark swims.
Their skin feels almost like a leather basketball. Unlike most other sharks, nurse shark skin is fairly smooth.
4. Sharks can go into a trance.
When you flip a shark upside down they go into a trance-like state named tonic immobility. This is the reason why you often see sawfish flipped over when our scientists are researching on them in the water.
5. Sharks have been around a very long time.
Based on fossil scales found in Australia and the United States, scientists hypothesize sharks first appeared in the ocean around 455 million years ago.
6. Scientists age sharks by counting the rings on their vertebrae.
Vertebrae contain coextensive couples of blurred and crystalline bands. Band pairs are counted like bands on a tree and then scientists assign an age to the shark depended on the count. Thus, if the vertebrae have 10 band pairs, it is assumed to be 10 years old.
Recent studies, however, have shown that this expectation is not always correct. Researchers must therefore study each species and size grade to conclude how often the band pairs are deposited because the impeachment rate may change over time. Resolving the sure rate that the bands are deposited is called “validation”.
7. Blue sharks are really blue.
The blue shark shows a extraordinary blue color on the upper psection of its body and is generally snowy white beneath.
The mako and porbeagle sharks also display a blue coloration, but it is not nearly as fine as that of a blue shark. In life, most sharks are brown, olive, or grayish.
8. Each whale shark’s spot arrangement is unique as a fingerprint.
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean. They can grow to 12.2 meters and weigh as much as 40 tons by some estimates! Basking sharks are the world’s second-largest fish, growing as long as 32 feet and weighing more than five tons.
9. Some species of sharks have a spiracle that grants them to drag water into their respiratory system while at rest. Most sharks have to keep swimming to pump water over their gills.
A shark’s spiracle is situated just behind the eyes which supply oxygen directly to the shark’s eyes and brain. Bottom-dwelling sharks, like angel sharks and nurse sharks, use this extra respiratory organ to breathe while at stationary on the seafloor. It is also used for respiration when the shark’s mouth is used for food.
10. Not all sharks have the same teeth.
Mako sharks have very sharp and pointed teeth, while white sharks have triangular, serrated teeth. Each section a unique, tell-tale mark on its prey. A sandbar shark will have around 35,000 teeth over the course of its lifetime!
11. Different shark species reproduce in different ways.
Sharks exhibit great diversity in their reproductive modes. There are oviparous (egg-laying) species and viviparous (live-bearing) species. Oviparous species lay eggs that develop and hatch outside the mother’s body with no parental care after the eggs are laid.