- Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet. Unlike most animals'
jaws, both the sharks' upper and lower jaws move.
- A shark bites with it's lower jaw first and then its upper. It tosses
its head back and forth to tear loose a piece of meat which it swallows
whole
- Each type of shark has a different shaped tooth depending on their
diet (the shark in the photo is a great white -- you can tell he's a
carnivore just by looking at those sharp, pointy teeth!).
- A shark may grow and use over 20,000 teeth in its lifetime
- Sharks never run out of teeth. If one is lost, another spins forward
from the rows and rows of backup teeth.
- Sharks are amazing fish that have been around since long before the
dinosaurs existed. They live in waters all over the world, in every
ocean, and even in some rivers and lakes.
- Sharks have no bones; their skeleton is made of cartilage, which is
a tough, fibrous substance, not nearly as hard as bone. Sharks also
have no swim bladder
- Fully-grown sharks range in size from 7 inches (18 cm) long (the
Spined Pygmy shark), up to 50 feet (15 m) long (the Whale shark
- Most sharks are intermediate in size, and are about the same size
as people, 5-7 feet (1.5-2.1 m) long.
- Half of the 368 shark species are under 39 inches (1 m) long.
- Most sharks have streamlined, torpedo-shaped bodies that glide easily
through the water
- There are about 368 different species of sharks, which are divided
into 30 families
- These different families of sharks are very different in the way they
look, live, and eat.
- They have different shapes, sizes, color, fins, teeth, habitat, diet,
personality, method of reproduction, and other attributes
- Sharks may have up to 3,000 teeth at one time.
- Most sharks do not chew their food, but gulp it down whole it in large
pieces.
- The teeth are arranged in rows; when one tooth is damaged or lost,
it is replaced by another.
- Most sharks have about 5 rows of teeth at any time. The front set
is the largest and does most of the work.
- Sharks vary greatly in their diets, but they are all carnivores.
|
