Page 127 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

LIVING FOSSIL

FRILLED SHARK

Looking more like a mythical sea snake than a shark,
this deep-sea monster belongs to a group of sharks whose
beginnings stretch far back to the time of the dinosaurs.
The frilled shark is strange in many ways. Its spine is
incomplete, so its back is supported by a rubbery rod, and
it has six gill slits, whereas most sharks have five. Its head
looks as though it should belong to a lizard, and inside its
wide jaws there are hundreds of three-pronged needle-
sharp teeth that can bite slippery squid.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE 4¼–6½ ft (1.3–2 m) long

• HABITAT Deep ocean waters, usually near
continents
• LOCATION Worldwide
• DIET Fish (including other sharks)
and squid

STATS AND FACTS

SWIMMING DEPTH
Like most other
ft 2,000 4,000
kinds of sharks, frilled
sharks give birth to live
m 500 1,000 1,500
young. However, their
395–4,200 ft
pregnancy is one of the (120–1,280 m)
longest of any kind PUPS PER LITTER
of animal.

0 5 10 15
2–12
FRILLY FACE SIZE OF PUPS AT BIRTH
The frilled shark gets its name in 15 30
from the ruffled gill edges that GESTATION PERIOD
connect underneath its head to cm 20 40 60 80
form a collar. This strange shark 3 16–23½ in (40–60 cm)
is rarely seen, preferring to
keep to deep ocean waters, YEARS
so is little studied.
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