Living fossil shark caught off Australia in January (died) [View all]

[ND-Dem]

A rarely seen frilled shark has been captured off the coast of Australia, though he unfortunately did not survive for long outside the cold and deep water. The 6-foot-long fish with ruffly gills has caught flack for looking "horrifying" or like "'Jaws' on steroids," but those descriptors don't do justice to this serpentine marvel of marine biology.

With 300 teeth set in 25 rows, these sharks are so-called living fossils whose frilly precursors date back about 80 million years. Though scientists have known about this species since the 19th century, it wasn't until 2004 when a shark swam by a camera in his natural habitat for the first time...And, despite the decade since, much of the frilled shark's life — which takes place hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface — remains a mystery.

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