40 Interesting & Unknown Shark Facts
Sharks are incredibly diverse, amazing and intelligent creatures. Sharks are also defined as a fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a streamlined body, but there’s much more to them than a cartilaginous skeleton, big teeth, and Jaws. Consider these 40 Interesting Shark Facts, which will include anatomy, behavior, habitat and more.
1. Sharks can be found in all five oceans of the planet.
2. Sharks are called cartilaginous because they have skeletons made of cartilage.
3. Sharks have eyelids, but they do not blink.
4. Sharks have dermal denticles also called placoid scales.
5. Sharks have oily livers which help them stay balanced in deeper waters.
6. Sharks can only swim forward.
7. Sharks have been living in oceans for 450 million years.
8. The smallest shark is the dwarf lantern.
9. An average shark has 40 – 45 teeth in up to seven rows.
10. Goblin shark is the oldest known species of sharks.
11. The second oldest is the frilled shark which has been founded around for 80 million years.
12. The largest shark to ever live was the Megalodon.
13. By counting the rings on its vertebrae, we can measure the age of a shark.
14. Sharks can hear prey up to 3000 feet away.
15. The ears of sharks are located inside their head.
16. Sharks have eyes similar to cats and can see better in the dark compared to other fishes.
17. Sharks were known to mariners as Sea dogs until the 16th century.
18. The shark has the greatest electrical sensitivity of any animal.
19. Sharks have the thickest skin compared to any animal species of the planet.
20. Sharks have the largest brains compared to any other fish.
21. Sharks communicate through body language.
22. Sharks do not have vocal cords, so they are not able to make sound. That is why they are known as the ‘silent killers’.
23. Sharks have been swimming the world’s oceans for more than 400 million years.
24. The biggest threat to sharks is human.
25. Sharks have been known to reproduce asexually.
26. Frilled sharks have the longest gestation period.
27. One of the most evolved sharks today are hammerhead sharks and it is considered harmless to humans.
28. Bull sharks can live in both fresh and saltwater.
29. Sharks depend on electroreception to direct the notice of prey and ocean.
30. Great white sharks eat an average of 11 tons of food a year.
31. Bamboo sharks don’t swim.
32. Sixgill sharks can have litters of 100 pups.
33. Humans kill 100 million sharks a year.
34. One of the earliest known species of sharks is the Cladoselache.
35. The shark can have around 3,000 teeth at one time.
36. The surface of a shark’s jaws has extra support in the form of tiny hexagonal plates called ‘tesserae‘.
37. Sharks can detect electricity with the help of electroreceptor organs called ‘ampullae of Lorenzini’.
38. Sharks are a k-selected species.
39. Nurse sharks are the laziest sharks.
