Hybrid sharks? Are we talking about any of those unlikely movies, in more ways than one, about the science fiction channel, where the sharks are combined with spider or scorpions? Mutant sharks or attacking from the air?
None of that, we are talking about a natural phenomenon-although rare-as is the crossing of different species of the same genus , and that can lead to the formation of a new species.
It is the first time that a process of hybridization between sharks is discovered, and it is natural that it was in Australia, where they swim and live 180 of the 400 existing species .
Hybrids and eats men
The announcement of the discovery of 57 hybrid sharks in a 2,000km strip of the Australian east coast, is It was at a time when the authorities were chasing a white shark accused of killing an American banista, who would become the 53rd victim in the last 50 years.
But the new sharks have nothing to do with this case, and the two species involved are considered harmless to man: the sharks with black tips a ( Carcharhinus limbatus ) and the Australian blacktip shark ( Carcharhinus tilstoni ); the common one is usually in cold waters, while the Australian, a little smaller than the first, moves through warmer waters.The resulting resulting individuals differ little from their procreators, although they do not have the same number of vertebrae and, they can also live in much colder waters.
The researcher at the University of Queensland (Australia) and a member of the team that discovered these sharks pointed out:
« It's a find of great importance because they are the first hybrid sharks discovered in the world and because this type of intermediate species has never been sought before ».
Curiosities and questions
This discovery it may be just the first of other possible hybrid encounters among other species of sharks from the rest of the world, and it has become reason for new questions and considerations.For example, the fact that the hybrid can move in much colder waters could be a strategy of adaptation to climate change, and the way it is affecting the temperature of the oceans.
Although this idea is a matter of debate and these sharks will have to be studied further, which could also be considered as a new species.Why? Because unlike most natural or artificial hybrids, this new shark has the capacity to reproduce, that is, to perpetuate its unique characteristics in new generations .
Maybe we are witnessing One of the ways in which nature enriches the variety of life on our planet, at a time when the human being strives just the opposite, don't you think?
We invite you to discover what it is like the childhood of animals.
Images: Valerie , Laurens , Richard Ling
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