What is the scientific name for sharks?
Q: What is the scientific name for sharks?
A: Sharks are known by their scientific name Selachimorpha.
Q: What type of material makes up the skeleton of a shark?
A: Sharks, like other Chondrichthyes, have skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone. Cartilage is a tough, rubbery material which is less rigid than bone.
Q: How long have sharks been around?
A: Fossils show that sharks have been around for 420 million years, since the early Silurian.
Q: What do most sharks typically eat?
A: Most sharks are predators and hunt and eat fish, marine mammals, and other sea creatures. However, the largest shark eats krill, like whales.
Q: Are all sharks cold-blooded?
A: Most sharks are cold-blooded but some, like the great white shark and the mako shark are partially warm-blooded.
Q: What kind of sound do sharks make?
A: It is widely believed that sharks are "silent killers". However, a recent study shows that sharks emit a low growl from their throats which resonates through their scales.
Q: What can we learn about prehistoric sharks from fossils?
A: Much of what we understand about prehistoric sharks comes from the study of their fossils. While sharks have skeletons made of soft cartilage that can fall apart before fossilizing, their teeth are harder and easily fossilized. Prehistoric sharks would grow and shed many thousands of teeth over their lifetime so shark teeth are one of the most common fossils found today.
