How would you describe a hammerhead shark?

They are gray-brown to olive-green on top with off-white undersides, and they have heavily serrated, triangular teeth. Their extra-tall, pointed dorsal fins are easily identifiable.

What is a hammerhead?

Definition of hammerhead 1 : the striking part of a hammer. 2 : blockhead. 3 : any of a family (Sphyrnidae) of active voracious medium-sized sharks that have the eyes at the ends of lateral extensions of the flattened head — see shark illustration.

What is special about hammerheads?

Great hammerheads have been observed using the sides of their heads to pin down their preferred meal, stingrays, while feeding on the ray’s wings. They do not hunt prey larger than stingrays. Because of their large size, great hammerhead sharks are not preyed upon by other marine animals.

When was the first hammerhead discovered?

It is Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), a German naturalist explorer, that first described the species in 1837.

Why is it called a hammerhead shark?

This shark’s unusual name comes from the unusual shape of its head, an amazing piece of anatomy built to maximize the fish’s ability to find its favorite meal: stingrays. A hammerhead shark uses its wide head to trap stingrays by pinning them to the seafloor.

How do hammerhead sharks live?

Hammerheads live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide. They can be found near the shoreline and along the continental shelf (shallow waters). They have been seen in mass migrations moving toward cooler waters in the summertime.

Where do hammerheads live?

tropical waters
Hammerheads live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide. They can be found near the shoreline and along the continental shelf (shallow waters). They have been seen in mass migrations moving toward cooler waters in the summertime.

What does a hammerhead look like?

The upper sides of these fish are grayish-brown or olive-green and they have white bellies. They have very impressive triangular, serrated teeth—like the edge of a saw’s blade. Hammerheads’ mouths are on the underside of their heads. Check out where hammerhead sharks live.

Why are hammerheads shaped like that?

Hammerhead sharks are voracious predators and their mallet-shaped heads boost their ability to find that which they like to eat. The wide expanse of head allows for a broader spread of highly specialized sensory organs that they use to find food. And beyond smell and vision, these sensory organs are rather high-tech.

What is the history of the hammerhead shark?

The researchers suspect the hammerhead ancestor probably lived during the Miocene epoch about 20 million years ago. The team found that the two lineages of small sharks (of about 3 to 4 feet in length) broke off of the main lineage at two separate times during history.

Where did hammerhead sharks originate?

The ancestor of all hammerhead sharks probably appeared abruptly in Earth’s oceans about 20 million years ago and was as big as some contemporary hammerheads, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

How many teeth do hammerhead sharks have?

Usually, a hammerhead shark would have 17 rows of teeth on each side of their top jaw, with 2-3 teeth in the center. They have 16-17 teeth along either side of the lower jaw, with 1-3 in the center portion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZbJKLM0KQ