Great White Sharks: Teeth, Speed, and Reproduction, Slides of Biology

Download Great White Sharks: Teeth, Speed, and Reproduction and more Slides Biology in PDF only on Docsity! PHEHHHHHOEHETT OOO OOOO FEES Great White Shark Information TEETH TO SPARE If great white sharks had tooth fairies, they’d be rich! A great white loses and replaces thousands of its teeth during its lifetime. Its upper jaw is lined with 26 front-row teeth; its lower jaw has 24. Behind these razor-sharp points are many rows of replacement teeth. The “spares” move to the front whenever the shark loses a tooth. At any one time about one-third of a shark’s teeth are in the replacement stage. HEADS UP Great whites are the only sharks that can hold their heads up out of the water. This ability allows them to look for potential prey at the surface. Great white sharks usually attack from underneath, surprising their unwary prey Docsity.com A pregnant female great white shark can carry as many as 14 babies in her belly. At birth, a 5-foot-long (1.52-meter), 60- pound (22-kilogram) pup looks and acts like a miniature adult. Great whites average between 10 and 15 feet (3 and 4.6 meters) long. Females tend to be bigger than males. The longest confirmed great white shark measured 19.5 feet (5.9 meters). Male or female, they’re the world’s largest meat-eating fish. A great white shark isn’t all white. A pale belly and dark charcoal-gray back help the shark avoid detection by prey. Viewed from above, the shark’s dark-colored back blends with the murky seafloor. From below, the shark’s belly matches the light-colored surface. Sneaky! BIG MAMA & SNEAK ATTACK Docsity.com “Man-eaters?” Maybe not. Some scientists believe that great white sharks are better described as “man-biters.” In more than half of all known great white attacks on swimmers, sharks have taken only a single bite before swimming away. Scientists speculate that perhaps people just don’t taste as good as seals or sea lions! NOT ON THE REGULAR MENU Docsity.com Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks • Florida – 520 • Hawaii – 104 • California – 89 • South Carolina – 52 • North Carolina – 30 • Texas – 32 • Oregon – 18 • Mississippi – 1 • Total in USA from 1670-2005: 902 Docsity.com SCARIEST SHARK EVER (NOW EXTINCT) The largest shark known was the Megalodon (Carcharodon or Carcharocles megalodon); it is now extinct. It was an ancient, meat-eating shark that lived between 25 million and 1.6 million years ago. It was up to 40 feet (12 m) long and its teeth were each the size of a person's hand! Docsity.com Smallest Sharks • Dwarf Lanternfish (Etmopterus perryi), which is about 7 1/2 to 8 inches (19 - 20 cm) long for fully-grown females and 6 to 7 inches (16 - 17.5 cm) long for adult males • Spined pygmy shark (Squaliolus laticaudus), which is about 8 inches (21 cm) long for fully-grown females and 7 inches (18 cm) long for males • Pygmy ribbontail catshark (Eridacnis radcliffei) , which is about 6 to 7 inches (15 - 16 cm) long for fully-grown females and 7 to 7 1/2 inches (18 - 19 cm) long for males. Docsity.com MOST DANGEROUS The oceanic white-tipped sharks are the most fearless predators. Jacques-Yves Cousteau says that it is: "the only species of shark that is never frightened by the approach of a diver, and they are the most dangerous of all sharks." Docsity.com LONGEST TAIL The thresher sharks have the longest tail among sharks; the upper lobe of their tails are about the same length as their bodies. Docsity.com STRONGEST SHARK BITE The strongest shark bite belongs to the dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus); its jaws have been measured to exert 132 pounds (60 kg) of force per tooth (James Snodgrass and Perry Gilbert, 1965). Docsity.com MOST COMMON SHARK The piked dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) is very abundant, especially in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a small shark, about 63 inches (1.6 m) long. Docsity.com LONGEST MIGRATION The Blue shark had been known to migrate from 1,200-1,700 miles (2000-3000 km) in a seasonal journey from New York state in the USA to Brazil. Docsity.com LARGEST LITTER One Blue shark was found with 135 pups in her uterus. Docsity.com