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Goblin Shark — printable fact sheet
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Goblin Shark
Mitsukurina owstoni
The goblin shark is a deep-sea relic, the last member of a family that goes back over a hundred million years, and it hunts with a mechanism that looks like a special effect. Its jaws are not fixed to the underside of the skull in the usual way but slung on elastic ligaments, an…
Did you know?
- Goblin sharks are sometimes called 'living fossils' because their lineage has changed very little since the Cretaceous period.
- Its jaws are slung on ligaments and fire forward out of its head like a slingshot when it strikes. It needs that because it is a slow, flabby swimmer that cannot chase anything down. Its long blade-like snout is packed with electroreceptors for finding prey in total darkness. Its pink colour is not pigment — the skin is translucent, and you are seeing the blood underneath.
What I learned
Draw the goblin shark
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