The sharks we know today as the open ocean’s top predators evolved from stubby bottom dwellers during a dramatic episode of global warming millions of years ago.
The sharks we know today as the open ocean’s top predators evolved from stubby bottom dwellers during a dramatic episode of global warming millions of years ago.
A massive outpouring of volcanic lava about 93 million years ago sent carbon dioxide levels soaring, creating a greenhouse climate that pushed ocean temperatures to their hottest. UC Riverside researchers discovered that some sharks responded to the heat with elongated pectoral fins.
This discovery is documented in a paper published today in the journal Current Biology. It was made by taking body length and fin measurements from over 500 living and fossilized shark species.
Read more at: University of California - Riverside
The oceanic whitetip shark’s scientific name—Carcharhinus longimanus—comes from its long, rounded pectoral fin. (Andy Mann/NOAA)
