How does sharks adapted to its environment

In addition, they have evolved interesting methods to deal with problems faced with life at sea such as regulating buoyancy and reproduction. The skeleton of a shark is made entirely from cartilage rather than bone. This is the feature that defines the group of fish that sharks belong to called Chondrichthyes.

It is thought that the cartilaginous skeleton is the ancestral form for all vertebrate skeletons and that bones evolved more recently.

Cartilage is lighter and less dense than bone which makes sharks naturally more buoyant than other fish. An increase in the number of rods in their eyes gives sharks the ability to see in waters with poor visibility, such as murky water and moonlight.

Some sharks, for example the blue shark, have a nictitating membrane that slides over the eyes to prevent damage from prey and UV light. Sharks have a total of six senses, five of which are involved in locating food. Their hearing is amazingly good regardless of the fact their ears are hidden under their skin.

They are able to detect sounds from over one mile away and the heartbeat of fish close-by; by detecting an increase in heart rate, it is thought that they are able to detect fear. Smell is one of the most important senses a shark has in terms of hunting and selecting food.

They are able to detect healthy fish from a long distance and react strongly to injured or distressed fish from great distances. Related to smell is the sense of taste, and taste is important for making the final decision of accepting or rejecting food. The lateral line provides a shark with information on how big and how close a fish is, and whether or not it is injured.

The lateral line runs along the length of their body and is made up of tiny pores, filled with a jelly-like fluid and hairs. Each pore contains a jelly-filled canal with sensory cells at the end. The hammerhead shark hunts on prey completely hidden from view but is able to find them by picking up on their electrical field through the ampullae of Lorenzini. This means that sharks can continue to hunt in very dirty water and moonless nights. Sharks use three different methods of reproduction.

This helps conceal them: Seen from below, the undersides match the pale sky; seen from above, their brown, black or gray backs blend into the deeper water. By using the site, you agree to the uses of cookies and other technology as outlined in our Policy, and to our Terms of Use. Swimming Sharks have several adaptations that help them swim without expending too much energy, and enable them to maneuver quickly and with agility. Hunting Sharks have several means of sensing prey.

Teeth When sharks lose a tooth, a new one grows to replace it. Sharks mate through face-to-face copulation, meaning they engage in intercourse while facing each other, primarily because their sex organs on their undersides.

Male sharks dominate female sharks by biting the female in the pectoral fin and pushing her nose downward. This behavioral adaptation allows a male shark to overcome the female and position himself so that the male claspers make contact with the female cloaca to fertilize the eggs.

The behavior occurs for about a minute until the male shark disengages and swims away. Sharks use different types of body language to interact and communicate with one another and prey, showing signs of dominance or submission.

Sharks stiffen and arch their bodies and open their mouths to exhibit a threat to other sharks and display swimming techniques such as turning away to dominate their own space. Sharks also communicate by slapping the water with their tails or by breaching out of the water, which are theorized as forms of discouragement toward other sharks that are interfering with prey.

Some species of sharks such as hammerhead and bull sharks roam and hunt the waters in schools versus other sharks that are more solitary.

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