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Giant whale sharks have teeth on their eyeballs

The ocean's largest shark relies on vision more than previously believed.

Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
  • Japanese researchers discovered that the whale shark has "tiny teeth"—dermal denticles—protecting its eyes from abrasion.
  • They also found the shark is able to retract its eyeball into the eye socket.
  • Their research confirms that this giant fish relies on vision more than previously believed.
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animals oceans water fish evolution marine biology

The great white shark has surprising dining habits

Scientists are befuddled by where the shark gets most of its food.

Photo by Gerald Schömbs / Unsplash
  • A University of Sydney research team found that the great white shark spends an unexpectedly large amount of time feeding close to the sea bed.
  • The group examined the contents in the stomachs of 40 juvenile white sharks and found the remains of a variety of fish species that typically inhabit the sea floor or are buried in the sand.
  • The scientists hope that the information gained from this research will assist conservation and management efforts for the species.
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oceans ecology animals nature fish marine biology

New fossils reveal first known swimming dinosaur

Non-avian dinosaurs were thought terrestrially bound, but newly unearthed fossils suggest they conquered prehistoric waters, too.

(Photo: Kabacchi/Flickr)
  • Spinosaurus has remained an elusive quarry for paleontologists despite its initial discovery more than 100 years ago.
  • A recent study of newly excavated fossils suggests the 40-foot-long therapod swam and hunted in waterways.
  • If future evidence confirms the study's findings, it may change our understanding of the Mesozoic era.
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    dinosaurs animals biomechanics evolution marine biology nature paleontology water

    19th-century atlas offers glimpse of North Sea's fish-rich past

    O.T. Olsen's gorgeous 'Piscatorial Atlas' (1883) describes a world now destroyed and forgotten

    Image: Wellcome Collection. Public domain.
    • In little more than a century, fish stocks in the North Sea have declined by 99%.
    • For people living today, a grey and exhausted sea is all they know.
    • O.T. Olsen's Atlas of the North Sea's fish species is a reminder of the richness that once was.
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    biodiversity Conservation Environmental health Fisheries marine biology pollution sustainability europe map

    Some shark species have evolved to walk

    The relatively quick evolution of nine unusual shark species has scientists intrigued.

    Image source: Mark Erdmann
    • Living off Australia and New Guinea are at least nine species of walking sharks.
    • Using fins as legs, they prowl coral reefs at low tide.
    • The sharks are small, don't be frightened.
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    marine biology ocean animals evolution discovery sharks coral biodiversity
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