Sharks have been navigating our oceans for million years (they appear before trees, to put it into perspective). And during this timespan, Earth and its inhabitants have experienced monumental transformations, but sharks have remained remarkably consistent in both their biology and body shape. This unchanging nature has long puzzled scientists, but a groundbreaking international research …
Amongst the colorful Australian coral reefs, a remarkable story of survival has unfolded as sharks and rays demonstrate a resilient spirit. Earlier in 2023, research that examined nearly 400 coral reefs worldwide discovered a chilling pattern: the once-thriving shark populations that graced these bustling waters were disappearing. The collective effort of around 150 researchers found …
Underneath the glistening surface of the world’s oceans lies a complex network of marine life. Each species plays a crucial role in maintaining the delicate ecosystems that make up our planet. However, this balance is under threat as biodiversity faces a crisis of extinction. Over the past fifty years, animal diversity has plummeted by an …
A groundbreaking study published in Science has unveiled the dire consequences of overfishing on shark populations, particularly reef sharks. The research, conducted by the Global FinPrint project and led by Florida International University, analyzed an impressive 22,000 hours of underwater video footage from monitoring stations across 391 reefs in 67 countries and territories. The findings …
Pregnant grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus), a species that appears fierce but has a gentle personality, are venturing outside of no-take marine protected areas at night. This puts them in danger of extinction as there are only around 400 breeding individuals remaining in the wild. The findings come from a decade-long study that tracked 34 …
In spite of their size, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are filter feeders, feeding on plankton, small fish, and other microscopic organisms. To capture their prey, they typically swim slowly near the water’s surface, opening their massive mouths up to filter large volumes of water. In its throat, specialized structures called gill rakers filter out food …
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter A group of butterflies with orange wings and dark eyespots have been named Saurona after the Lord Of The Rings villain. These butterflies possess black rings on their …
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/aa/8b/aa8b6f00-aa74-4ccc-8879-def388725ef3/3waves_web.jpg "Europe Possibly Shared by Humans and Neanderthals 54,000 Years Ago According to Science")
Grotte Mandrin in southern France and Ksar Akil in Lebanon are both sites of immense archaeological interest. The former is not a vast cave, but rather a deep overhang that offered protection to Neanderthals and other creatures that occupied it for thousands of years. The site features sophisticated stone tools that were systematically produced, with …