BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Sharks prove evolution; hybrid shark.

Photo taken by "warrenski"

Sharks are just adding to their long list of impressive abilities. They are amazingly immune and can help cure cancer, they can be a cyclopes, and now they are proving evolution.

The world’s first hybrid shark has been discovered in Austrian waters. The shark is a cross of an Australian Blacktip shark and a Common Blacktip shark. Common Blacktip sharks are found in the Atlantic Ocean. This discovery displays the animals fight for existence; overfishing and pollution have reduced shark populations in general all over the globe. The adaptation of this new hybrid allows the animal to survive in cooler water temperatures, previously intolerant for species. Scientist believe the sharks are “adapting to cope” with global warming and changing water temperatures.  This adaptation and creation of a hybrid creature is evolution. This discovery proves that evolution is no longer a theory but is happening right now.

The new hybrid species has many generations under it’s belt, displaying its ability to reproduce. The species will have to be further studied before comparing their life to that of their parents. This discovery also opens the door to the discovery of other species crossbreeding or evolving as well.

Photo of Common Blacktip Shark: http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrenski/6503846891/

 

 

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3 Comments

  1. nyrtac2012

    That is really interesting. I always knew that scientists believe sharks to be direct descendants from back when there were dinosaurs, but I didn’t know that they could be proving evolution even now! I can tell you like sharks, and I think that is pretty interesting. Here is this site: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/sharks.htm
    It has lots of great resources of recent shark related articles, and if you click on the Biological Profiles tab you can see a ton of sharks and other types of fish, and their entire biological profile. It is organized by Family, Genus and Species, and the Common Name.
    Your article was about Black Tip sharks, so I clicked on that link and not only did it give me lots of great photos, but so much information such as habitat, conservation, danger to humans, food habits, geographical distribution and even taxonomy. Check it out!

  2. idolph94

    I don’t know if this is exactly considered “evolution” as Darwin put it. When I think of evolution, I think of a change in a species over a long period of time. In this case, the sharks produced a new type of offspring that is well suited to its environment. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this the type of evolution where it is “survival of the fittest”, because a new type of shark was created. It wasn’t as if an external factor caused certain sharks within the species to die off, and a mutation or other genetic variation allowed for it to adapt gradually over a long period of time. The fact is that this is a case a new type of hybrid that was well suited for its environment from the start of its existence, not the gradual adaptation of a type of shark over a long period of time. I don’t know, I might be totally wrong, but this was what I was thinking about while I was reading the article. Kind of intriguing to think about this type of stuff and I can’t wait to learn about evolution later in the semester of our AP Biology class.

  3. aminoalix

    I knew who had written this post before even looking for the author! I really enjoyed reading about the positive attributes of sharks, as I have always been somewhat afraid of the human – eating creatures. However, while I did find this supporting site on your topic, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0820_030820_sharkcancer.html, I also found an article that talked about how sharks are causing parasite infections in humans. It is a blog just like this one: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sharkdiseasefaqs.htm. Check them out!

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