A new species of shark having human-like teeth discovered in Australia

When we think of sharks, the first thing that comes to mind is their sharp teeth they use to tear prey into pieces rather than chew it like humans. However, scientists have recently discovered a species of shark that seems to prefer to chew food thoroughly as well.

According to Live Science, Australian researchers spotted a marine predator whose molars are similar in structure to human teeth. It uses them to crush rather than tear its prey. The new species is called the painted hornshark (Heterodontus marshallae). It belongs to the Heterodontiformes genus of sharks with different teeth. They are distinguished from other fish of this superorder by their unique body shape and small horns protruding above the eyes.

According to Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) ichthyologist Helen O'Neill, the genus resembles fossils of long-extinct sharks because of similar morphology, including spines. Scientists have also been able to establish that they are not related to each other.

The study of the discovered species was released in the Diversity journal on July 12. According to the published data, the recently described species is found only in the waters of northwestern Australia. These sharks swim at a depth of 125-230 meters from the surface, which is quite deep.

Painted hornsharks have several rows of teeth arranged in a very large jaw compared to the size of the skull. This structure allows them to bite through shelled prey such as mollusks and crustaceans.

According to ANFC senior curator and study co-author Will White, the teeth of all horned sharks are very similar to each other, i.e. their jaws contain several types of teeth. The front ones are sharper and the angular ones are designed differently. "This group evolved to crush prey with a heavy shell using their molars," White explained.

Researchers surveyed the environment near the bottom at Gascoyne Marine Park in Western Australia in November 2022. They managed to capture an H. marshallae adult male. His body length was about 53 centimeters from the tip of his snout to his tail fin. Compared to other horned sharks living off the coast of Australia, he was characterized by a striped pattern on the body.

Zebra sharks have similar spots. However, this species is found in shallow waters and can be found near Indonesia or Japan. H. marshallae prefer deeper water and are found near Australia.

Scientists had managed to examine six specimens and eggshells of the new species before last year's expedition. They were stored in museum collections across Australia and were in the classification stage. The discovery of a live male allowed the work to be finalized.

"We have a female specimen in our collection, but the one we collected during the trip is a male," O'Neil shared. Scientists prefer to use males in the study of shark holotypes because they have claspers, i.e. external reproductive organs that have different structures in different species.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL spoke about a new kind of poisonous snakes found in Australia. They are characterized by extreme speed.

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