Interesting Critters

An old post, but I thought you might like to take a look at this peculiar shark.

They’re thought to have a 42-month gestation period, but beats me whether anybody actually knows that for sure. Oh, Google’s AI thing says that this estimate is based on embryonic growth rates and guesswork. Okay, that seems at least possible. These are deep sea sharks, so very poor nutrient availability. Here’s the actual source for that.

One reason this species caught my eye is that they are ovoviviparous, which is SUCH a great word. How many other words pack three v’s into the single word? It means — you may know this — that the young start out in eggs, but the eggs hatch inside the mother so she then gives live birth.

They’ve got fancy teeth, too — sort of frilly, in fact, though that’s not where the name comes from — but the vocabulary associated with that isn’t as neat as “ovoviviparous.”

This Wikipedia entry is pretty good! I’m impressed.

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