Rare Frilled Shark Comes One Step Closer to Extinction

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/rare-frilled-shark-comes-one-step-closer-to-extinction.html




Rare Frilled Shark Comes One Step Closer to Extinction

Written by Melissa Breyer

Pity the poor, misunderstood frilled shark. A member of the species (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) was caught by an Australian fisherman while trawling for sea perch last week and the news is buzzing about the beleaguered, bizarre-looking thing: “It looks like something out of Alien,” “freaky,” “horrific looking.”

This animal has evolved to thrive in the frigid depths of the ocean 5,000 feet below. It is a beautifully designed creature – a fossil species dating back some 80,000,000 years. Should it look like a kitten? Maybe its eel-like body, 300 frond-like needle sharp teeth and six sets of frilly gills do make for an unusual visage, but such are the splendors of diversity. Why must we bully the underdogs?

“It was really prehistoric looking, freaky really,” said David Guillot, the fisherman who caught the shark while trawling for fish at 3,600 feet, reports CNN. “The head on it was like something out of a horror movie. It was quite horrific looking. … It was quite scary actually.”

“I’ve been fishing 30 years and never saw anything like it. So I brought it in,” he said. “Honestly we thought we had caught a brand new species, maybe discovered something wild.”

FULL story at link.

[daleanime]

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How many people realize what we're losing every day?