Sharks Are Older Than Trees
Sharks first appeared roughly 450 million years ago. Trees — with their distinctive woody trunks and deep root systems — only evolved about 350 million years ago. The predators had a 100-million-year head start.
Sharks first appeared roughly 450 million years ago. Trees — with their distinctive woody trunks and deep root systems — only evolved about 350 million years ago. The predators had a 100-million-year head start.
The whale shark is the largest fish alive, and the biggest reliably measured individual reached 18.8 m (61 ft 8 in). It feeds almost entirely on plankton, straining tiny drifting life through a mouth up to 1.5 m (5 ft) wide. The ocean's biggest shark eats some of its smallest creatures.
At the base of Davidson Seamount off California, about 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) down, roughly 6,000 nesting pearl octopuses were counted in a 2.5-hectare patch, and researchers estimate the full site holds more than 20,000 nests. Named the Octopus Garden, it is the largest octopus aggregation known anywhere. The animals migrate there to mate, nest and die.
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