Scientists discover four new species of sharks- and they can WALK
Following a 12-year study of marine life in the waters between northern Australia and New Guinea, Researchers have identified four new species of foot-long sharks that have an unusual characteristic: They can WALK. These animals use their muscular pelvic fins to walk along the ocean floor or in shallow water. All four species appear to have evolved fairly recently, according to findings published in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research.
In the 12-year study, the scientists took samples of DNA from that first species, discovering four new ones in the process, CNN reported.
The youngest species might've evolved less than 2 million years ago.
"The discovery proves that modern sharks have remarkable evolutionary staying power and the ability to adapt to environmental changes," CNN quoted Mark Erdmann, the paper's co-author and Conservation International Vice President of Asia-Pacific marine programs, as saying.
The scientists have also found that the sharks have been "walking" around for at least nine million years.
Dominating the seas for as long as 400 million years, Sharks are said to be older than the dinosaurs. The oldest dinosaur fossil is thought to be about 240 million years old, by comparison.
These sharks don’t have legs, but video shows they’ve become pretty good at walking around on the ocean floor with their fins, much like a seal or otter.
Little-known walkers
Until 2008, scientists believed there were only five species of walking sharks, which are also known as epaulette sharks. Though most of these animals have similar anatomy, they have different coloration and marking patterns. The more detailed genetic analysis in the new study reveals that there are actually nine species, and exactly when they diverged from each other in the recent past, National Geographic reported.
Back in time
About 400 million years ago, the ancestors of sharks and all other jawed vertebrates diverged. Since then, only about 1,200 species of sharks and rays have come into existence. The animals are, mostly, very slow to evolve, slow to reproduce, and long-lived, National Geograpic quoted Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida, as saying.
