As they can open their mouths wider they are able to exert much more downward force in their bite. This means that they are able to open their mouths much wider than they would if they had a jaw made from bone. Also, as cartilage is much more flexible than bone it also allows sharks to swim fast and make quick turns when they’re chasing prey.Īnother advantage of having a cartilaginous skeleton is that it allows the sharks jaw to be much more flexible. Therefore, a really heavy skeleton would be a major disadvantage to them. Instead, they have to rely on their large oil-filled liver to provide them with buoyancy. Cartilage is much lighter than bone which is important because sharks don’t have a swim bladder. Having a skeleton that is made from cartilage rather than bone is actually a great advantage to sharks and is one of the reasons that they are such capable and powerful predators. This allows the shark to have the benefit of a tougher skeleton in the areas that they need it most, while still taking advantage of all of the other benefits that come from having a cartilaginous skeleton as well.Ĩ,665 People Couldn't Ace This Quiz Think You Can? Take Our Brand New A-Z-Animals Shark Quiz What are the Advantages of a Cartilaginous Skeleton? Having a flexible skeleton allows sharks to open their mouth further and exert a greater bite force Parts of their jaw are also made from calcified cartilage (such as their jaw bone) while other parts (such as their snout) are made from softer cartilage. So sharks heads are made from calcified cartilage so that their brain is protected. Areas that need more protection are made from calcified cartilage which has been calcified by calcium salts and which makes it much, much tougher. It gives their bodies shape and structure and protects their organs.ĭifferent parts of their bodies are made from different strengths of cartilage and some areas are more flexible than others. However, even though sharks have a cartilaginous skeleton it is still tough and does exactly the same job that a skeleton made from bone does. In fact, they don’t even have a single bone in their bodies!Ĭartilage is a tissue that is softer and more flexible than bone. As sharks are cartilaginous fish they have a skeleton that is made from cartilage rather than bone. They are also from the subclass Elasmobranchii which includes all sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish. However, sharks are from the class Chondrichthyes which means “cartilage fish”, as opposed to Osteichthyes which are bony fish. So, considering that sharks are one of the most powerful predators in the ocean and have an i ncredible bite force, it would be easy to assume that they must have tough bones. Many animals have a skeleton that is made from bone and it gives their body shape and gives them strength. Surely something as powerful and ferocious as a shark must have bones though? Join us as we learn all about sharks and discover whether they really do have bones. There’s one question that often comes up when we’re discussing sharks, and that is whether they have bones or not. However, despite how long they’ve been around there’s still more to learn about them. They’re often known as “living fossils” as they have roamed the oceans for more than 400 million years, meaning they were even around before the dinosaurs. Sharks are some of the most notorious and feared predators in the world, found in every ocean and some rivers.
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