(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/suneko)
Researchers had a hard time studying the development of hammerhead sharks because their embryos were hard to obtain. However, scientists from the University of Florida just gained access to their extremely rare embryo showing its five-month development.
Hammerhead Shark Embryo
New photos show how hammerheads develop their hammer. Photographs show how the hammerhead begins to enlarge about halfway through the shark's gestation period. The front of the hammer finally rounds out, but not before the shark's skull thrusts out its eyeballs at obviously abnormal angles, according to the researchers. The discovery was described in depth in a recent study titled "Embryonic development in the bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo), a viviparous hammerhead shark."
"Access to a hammerhead embryo is very rare, which is what makes this image so special," said The Conversation by Gareth Fraser, a biology professor at the University of Florida who oversaw the project.
"This is a look at how monsters form. This is an insight into the development of a wonder of nature that we haven't seen before and may not be able to see again."
Also, it's the first thorough examination of a hammerhead embryo. For scientists, this research represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because such embryos are rarely obtained.
It is reportedly quite difficult to obtain shark samples, and hammerhead sharks are an especially elusive species. Hammerhead sharks give birth to live offspring, making specimens more difficult to get than eggs, which are laid by most other fish species. Additionally, since they are a vulnerable species, it is prohibited to obtain them for scientific purposes.
About 20 million years ago, the progenitors of hammerhead sharks made their appearance on Earth. Evolution caused it to separate into several species over time, some of which became smaller and had larger, more rounded hammerheads. The species still has a lot to learn, and a close-up view of its embryos could not be possible in the future.
Doctoral student Steven Byrum, who worked on the project, stated that the perfect qualities of the bonnethead allowed them to do that with the species. It was reportedly a rare chance that they might not have had bonnetheads for very long, and they might not be able to get in with any other hammerhead species.
What Is a Bonnethead Shark?
Bonnethead sharks are the smallest of the 10 species of hammerhead sharks. These sharks are the only species with this particular head form.
Bonnethead heads are smooth and rounded between the eyes, in contrast to the majority of species that have straight heads with notched edges. A lot of these sharks migrate. These are common inshore coastal sharks.
Hammerhead sharks are exemplary predators who make better use of their peculiarly shaped heads to locate prey.
They can see farther than most other sharks thanks to their wide-set eyes. Additionally, they may more completely search the ocean for food by distributing their highly specialized sensory organs over their broad, mallet-shaped head.
The ampullae of Lorenzini are one set of sensory organs that sharks use to detect various things, including the electrical fields produced by their prey. The hammerhead shark's enhanced sensitivity in its ampullae enables it to locate its preferred prey-stingrays-which typically hide in the sand.
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