Instead, the scientists discovered that many hard-biting sharks have teeth that overlay each other, "kind of like roof shingles on a house," Huber said. "This reinforces them and helps to distribute stresses throughout all of the teeth." Sharks can also quickly replace any missing teeth. Big sharks often have big heads, but the head doesn't always match up with body size. Filter feeders, like whale and basking sharks, probably have relatively low biting forces when body size is accounted for. Certain other sharks, such as the mako, have necessarily narrower heads in order to cruise streamlined through the open ocean. Bull sharks, on the other hand, have huge heads relative to their bodies, as do great whites. "Nature has endowed this carnivore (the great white) with more than enough bite force to eat large and potentially dangerous prey," said Steve Wroe of the University of New South Wales, who led the other study on this particular shark. The great white's champion biter title could soon be challenged, however, as no one has released findings yet concerning the bite force of the wide-headed tiger shark, which Huber is now studying. Related Links: |
advertisement
Put Discovery News on Your Site!
|
-
our sites
-
video
mobile
-
shop
-
stay connected
-
corporate
