Class blog for sharing and commenting on current events in biology.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Two Locally Extinct Sharks Revealed

Jack Braumuller                                                                                                          4/16/13
Two Locally Extinct Sharks Revealed                                               Core Bio Current Events

            In this article, the author writes about the discovery of shark tooth weapons in the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific, and how the discovery of these weapons led to the realization that certain shark species once lived in the surrounding water.
The islanders only used the teeth of certain types of sharks to make their weapons. Weapons were important because battles for land were frequent on the small  island. Of the approximately seventeen shark species whose teeth were used for weapons, two of the teeth were recognized as the teeth of species who were not known to have ever lived in the area. The spot fin and dusky sharks had never been known to live in the water surrounding the Gilbert Islands until the analysis of the weapons.
This discovery does not seem like a major or important discovery, but it allows scientists to better understand the wildlife in the Gilbert Islands area. If these sharks have gone extinct, why not others? Now scientists must find out why the spot fin and dusky sharks went extinct and how to keep other sharks from following suit. Shark populations grow very slowly and are difficult to control, but they are a key part of the habitat in the ocean and especially the food chain in a reef setting.
Overall, I liked the article just because it was on an interesting and exotic topic. My critique is that the way in which the teeth in the weapons was discovered was not given in great detail. I would like to know why scientists were analyzing the weapons in the first place.


Than, Ker. "Shark-Tooth Weapons Reveal "Lost" Shark Species." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 03 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

1 comment:

  1. I thought this was a very interesting summary. The topic still had to do with science, but was not overly factual or full of data, which made it a bit easier to follow. I also thought it was cool that this topic touched on history as well, giving some back round about a culture most people wouldn't know about, which was very cool.

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