• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / How is a Shark’s Skeleton Different from Other Fish and What is its Skeleton Made of?

How is a Shark’s Skeleton Different from Other Fish and What is its Skeleton Made of?

May 6, 2020 by Karen Hill

Sharks are a fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly efficient streamlined body.

whale shark at the georgia aquarium

The earliest sharks that we know of evolved from more than 420 million years ago, before dinosaurs even existed.

Sharks have several sets of replaceable teeth, and popular species such as the Great White Shark are predators at the top of the food chain in the ocean.

Shark skeletons are different from bony fish and terrestrial animals because they are made of cartilage and connective tissue, similar to skates and rays.

About half the density of bone, cartilage is flexible and durable. This reduces the skeleton’s weight, increasing energy efficiency. A shark’s own weight can literally crush it if it ends up on land because it has no rib cage to support it.

It’s impossible to find fossils of shark skeletons because sharks don’t have bones, not because there weren’t any sharks back then.

Their body is supported by cartilage only, which doesn’t fossilize.

Scientists have found ancient shark teeth, however, indicating that many of the shark species living today are quite similar to species that lived during the Cretaceous period more than 100 million years ago.

Related Facts

  • What is the Most Dangerous Shark Species in the World to Humans and Where do they Live?
  • How Did Sharks Get Their Name and How Are They Different From Mammals Like Whales and Dolphins?
  • How did the Nurse Shark get its Name, Where does it Live, and How Big do they Get?
  • Where do Germs, Bacteria, and Viruses come from and How do they make us sick?
  • Where do dinoflagellates come from and How is ciguatoxin food poisoning prevented?
  • Why Does Fish Cook So Much Faster Than Other Meats?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What are the Health Benefits of Cod Liver Oil, What are the Side Effects, and Where does it Come From?
Next Post: What is the Most Dangerous Shark Species in the World to Humans and Where do they Live? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy