Sharks

Jaw of 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Found in Kentucky Cave

Sharks typically don’t come to mind when you think about landlocked Kentucky, but as fossil evidence from the state’s Mammoth Cave National Park shows, this place was once chock-full of the carnivorous fishes. Paleontologists working at the national park uncovered fossils from around 150 sharks representing as many as 20 distinct species, reports CNN. These…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 31

‘Walking Sharks’ Confirmed as the Newest Addition to the Shark Family Tree

Sharks have been around for a long time, emerging over 400 million years ago. New research shows that tropical ‘walking sharks’ appeared just 9 million years ago, making them the most recently evolved shark on the planet. New research published in Marine and Freshwater Research describes nine species of walking shark, all of whom live…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 21

Fish Hooks Are Injuring a Shocking Number of Sharks

Observations of sharks swimming off the coast of Tahiti show the alarming degree to which fishing hooks remain attached to these marine predators. A new paper published in Fisheries Research shows that 38 percent of tiger sharks living near French Polynesia, also known as Tahiti, have at least one fishing hook stuck in them or…

Conservation George Dvorsky Jan 13

Dead Alligators Dropped to the Bottom of the Sea Make for a Rare and Delicious Meal

An experiment to see how deep-sea creatures might react to the presence of an uncommon food source—alligator carcasses—has resulted in some fascinating new science. As many of you will recall, Gizmodo covered some of this research in April of last year. The marine biologists responsible for the experiment have finally published their long-awaited results in…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 10

‘It’s Pathetic:’ World Fails to Protect One of the Most Eaten Sharks

Disbelief and disappointment are some of the more PG-rated reactions coming from the ocean conservation community on Tuesday in response to a decision not to protect mako sharks. A closely-watched measure to protect IUCN Red List Endangered fish failed to pass at an international meeting that ended Monday due to objections from the European Union…

Conservation David Shiffman Nov 27

One of the Most Eaten Sharks in the World Is Now in Greater Danger [UPDATED]

This week, conservation experts from around the world are meeting in Geneva for the triennial Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference of the parties. One of the highest-profile proposals is to provide protections for shortfin mako sharks, which are among the most common sharks caught for food. Yet in a bizarre twist, the…

Conservation David Shiffman Aug 23

Fossil Hunters Found Bones From an Ancient Whale… and Then They Saw the Bite Marks

There was tremendous turmoil at the top of the water’s surface. An island of flesh, once living and swimming gracefully through these ancient seas, bobbed silently, at times yanked violently to the side or jolted upward by forces below it. Pelagornis miocaenus, an enormous prehistoric seabird circling lazily above the scene, may have noticed the…

Biology Jeanne Timmons Aug 22

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Wallet for All This Great New Jaws Mondo Merch

This year, Shark Week isn’t only on the Discovery Channel. The team at Mondo is in a munching mood too with a ton of shark-related merchandise themed to Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Jaws. They’re doing an entire week of cool stuff, all of which you can see right now, exclusively on io9. First up, today at…

Toys & Collectibles Germain Lussier Jul 29

‘Ghost’ Fishing Gear Is a Bigger Threat to Sharks Than We Realized

Not even the oceans’ top predators can escape the ruinous embrace of humanity’s plastic waste, suggests new research. The study indicates that over recent decades, many hundreds of sharks have been reported falling victim to entanglement in fishing gear and other marine plastic debris. Snarls of plastic waste adrift at sea are a menace for…

Conservation Jake Buehler Jul 9

The 5 Best Worst Jaws Rip-Offs

Fourth of July classic Jaws was released back in 1975, and we’re still feeling its effects. It helped launch both the summer blockbuster and Steven Spielberg’s career; it influenced how we perceive sharks in real life; and it spawned a tsunami of inferior (but often stupidly entertaining) movies about shark attacks. With that in mind,…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Jul 4

Shark Bite Mystery Solved 25 Years Later Thanks to Tooth Tweezed From Foot

A Florida man’s long shark bite saga is finally over. Thanks to scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Jeff Weakley was able to find out the identity of the creature whose tooth was lodged in his body for over two decades: a blacktip shark. As Weakley tells it, his right foot was chomped…

Biology Ed Cara Jul 3

How Are Doves and Sparrows Ending Up Inside Baby Sharks?

Back in 2010, scientists were monitoring a shark population on the Mississippi-Alabama border. They had hauled up a small tiger shark to tag when something strange happened: It puked up feathers. A DNA analysis revealed that the shark had eaten a brown thrasher, a speckled migratory songbird related to the mockingbird. Further analysis revealed that…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum May 22

Atlantic Shipwreck Graveyard May Be Key Habitat for Imperiled Sharks

Photographs taken by citizen scientist scuba divers show that female sand tiger sharks develop an affinity to certain shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina—a finding that could prove useful to conservation efforts. Female sand tiger sharks are returning to same shipwrecks off the North Carolina Coast, according to a new study published in Ecology.…

Conservation George Dvorsky Apr 23

Great White Sharks Appear Perfectly Healthy Despite Lead, Arsenic, and Mercury Coursing Through Their Veins

Great white sharks aren’t the unstoppable killing machines of Hollywood’s imagination, but studies have continuously shown that they’re definitely badasses of evolution. A new paper out this week adds to that resume, finding that great whites can easily withstand levels of heavy metals that would kill most other animals, all without any apparent health problems.…

Biology Ed Cara Apr 1

Newly Decoded Great White Shark Genome Hints at Why They’re So Indestructible

The great white shark is impressively terrifying (though not actually much of a threat to humans). But a new study shows that the animal is also an impressive feat of evolution. For the first time, scientists say they’ve fully unspooled the genome of the great white, a discovery that will help us better understand why sharks…

Biology Ed Cara Feb 19

Everyone Will Fight Over Who Gets to Play the Shark in This New Jaws Board Game

Is it even possible to go for a swim without at some point humming the two-note Jaws theme in your head as you approach other swimmers? The stalking/hunting mentality of our ancestors is still buried deep in our brains, which means that you and your friends are going to fight over who gets to play…

Games Andrew Liszewski Feb 15

Ancient Shark With Spaceship-Shaped Teeth Named After Vintage Video Game

A newly described freshwater shark from the Cretaceous Period had teeth that resembled the iconic Galaga video game spacefighter. Remarkably, the remains of this shark were found in the same pile of debris that contained Sue the T. rex—the largest and most complete fossil of the species ever found. Introducing Galagadon nordquistae, a newly discovered…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 21

Mysterious Shark Species Discovered in Museum Collection May Already Be Extinct

It’s a new year, and the world has its first new species of shark in 2019. Meet Carcharhinus obsolerus! Though, it’d be wise to temper your expectations if you hope to see the newly-described species in the wild. The unique shark—described based on a few specimens caught many decades ago—may actually be extinct, gone before…

Conservation Jake Buehler Jan 11

Scientists Have Discovered the First Known Omnivorous Shark

Sharks are virtually synonymous with carnivorousness, but the bonnethead shark, as new research suggests, is a true flexitarian, capable of switching between meat and plant-based diets. Researchers from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine have shown that bonnethead sharks, previously thought to be exclusively carnivorous in their food…

Biology George Dvorsky Sep 4

Let’s Gush About The Meg’s Best Moment

Whether you love The Meg, hate The Meg, or anything in between, there’s one moment that’s so hilariously amazing, we just had to call it out. Of course, this moment is a spoiler, so if you plan on seeing the movie (and we think you should), this is your warning. Much of The Meg’s second…

Movies Germain Lussier Aug 13

Jaw of 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Found in Kentucky Cave

‘Walking Sharks’ Confirmed as the Newest Addition to the Shark Family Tree

Fish Hooks Are Injuring a Shocking Number of Sharks

Dead Alligators Dropped to the Bottom of the Sea Make for a Rare and Delicious Meal

‘It’s Pathetic:’ World Fails to Protect One of the Most Eaten Sharks

One of the Most Eaten Sharks in the World Is Now in Greater Danger [UPDATED]

Fossil Hunters Found Bones From an Ancient Whale… and Then They Saw the Bite Marks

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Wallet for All This Great New Jaws Mondo Merch

‘Ghost’ Fishing Gear Is a Bigger Threat to Sharks Than We Realized

The 5 Best Worst Jaws Rip-Offs

Shark Bite Mystery Solved 25 Years Later Thanks to Tooth Tweezed From Foot

How Are Doves and Sparrows Ending Up Inside Baby Sharks?

Atlantic Shipwreck Graveyard May Be Key Habitat for Imperiled Sharks

Great White Sharks Appear Perfectly Healthy Despite Lead, Arsenic, and Mercury Coursing Through Their Veins

Newly Decoded Great White Shark Genome Hints at Why They’re So Indestructible

Everyone Will Fight Over Who Gets to Play the Shark in This New Jaws Board Game

Ancient Shark With Spaceship-Shaped Teeth Named After Vintage Video Game

Mysterious Shark Species Discovered in Museum Collection May Already Be Extinct

Scientists Have Discovered the First Known Omnivorous Shark

Let’s Gush About The Meg’s Best Moment

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