What is the total number of bones in a shark?
So, how many bones are there in a shark? They have no bones, is the quick and sweet answer to this question.
If you want to learn why sharks don’t have any bones and what they do have, keep reading.
First and foremost, sharks have a skeleton, as seen in the image, but it is not the same as you may believe, and their ” bones ” are actually different from what you are familiar with. Allow me to explain. Sharks’ skeletons are made from cartilage and another thing called connective tissue.
What exactly is cartilage?
Cartilage is the same material as you would find in your ear. If you take your finger and rub it on your ear, you can feel it’s made from something that’s flexible enough to bend but firm enough to keep its shape.
It has a density of about half of a normal bone. The tissue that forms the basis for bones is cartilage, and an excellent example of this is to look at infants. Their legs are rubbery when they first start walking, and it appears like they may be bent in all sorts of weird ways, right?
This is due to the fact that their bones have not yet fully formed.
What is connective tissue and how does it work?
Just as the name implies. It’s collagen and other fiber-based connective tissue.
Take a look at this skeleton shark. The benefits of having a skeleton consisting of cartilage is that it is flexible, lighter than bone, and heals more quickly. You can see why sharks evolved with this type of skeleton right?
It enables them to swim quickly in the ocean. Sharks, on the other hand, require additional support in specific areas, such as their skull. Because calcium salts protect their skulls, jaws, and spines that’s why they are stronger.
It makes the shark’s skull thicker and more powerful. Elasmobranchii creatures include sharks. Chondrichthyes is a subcategory of cartilaginous creatures, which is a fancy way of saying a group of animals with no bones and just cartilage.
To summarize:
sharks have no bones in their bodies to keep them flexible and light so they may easily cruise the oceans and feed. Sharks are well-known for being killing machines, and this for sure helps them with that.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.
