NEW STUDY FINDS EXTREME LONGEVITY IN SHARKS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140109004145.htm
A new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that the lifetimes of White Sharks off the Atlantic Coast of North America. Since sharks are the ocean's top predators, it had been thought that their lifespan was from about 22-30 years. But new studies in September of 2013 by the WHOI have found sharks as old as 73 years old for male sharks and 40-50 years old for females. This helps scientists to answer fundamental questions in ocean ecology. The technique that marine biologists use to measure the age of Sharks analyzes growth increments in mineralized tissue, such as otoliths (ear bones), vertebrae, and fin rays. These grow throughout a fish's life, adding annual rings, similar to growth rings in trees.
I chose this article primarily because sharks are cool! Also because this article is very recent and there have been multiple papers on this subject and the new techniques to measuring the age of fish including sharks. The most interesting part of this article was the data that it gave. The fact that scientists in the 70's and 80's were off by decades as to the average shark age was astonishing to me. This article was among many on this subject, but this one was the most scientific and professional. This also relates to the Food Web project we did as a class a couple of weeks ago. Sharks are the top-level carnivores or "Tertiary Consumers" in the complex food web of the Ocean.
I think that the next steps for these types of studies are to see if the vertebra of other species of aquatic animals like whales or even dolphins. This might increase the known ages of these animals to a lot more than we thought, like with White Sharks. The significance of this article is that now these new techniques can be applied to many other areas of research.
I chose this article primarily because sharks are cool! Also because this article is very recent and there have been multiple papers on this subject and the new techniques to measuring the age of fish including sharks. The most interesting part of this article was the data that it gave. The fact that scientists in the 70's and 80's were off by decades as to the average shark age was astonishing to me. This article was among many on this subject, but this one was the most scientific and professional. This also relates to the Food Web project we did as a class a couple of weeks ago. Sharks are the top-level carnivores or "Tertiary Consumers" in the complex food web of the Ocean.
I think that the next steps for these types of studies are to see if the vertebra of other species of aquatic animals like whales or even dolphins. This might increase the known ages of these animals to a lot more than we thought, like with White Sharks. The significance of this article is that now these new techniques can be applied to many other areas of research.