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Hybrid Sharks Found in Australian Waters (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/03/hybrid-sharks-found-in-australian-waters/)
Published January 03, 2012 | NewsCore
BRISBANE, Australia – Scientists have discovered the world's first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, with multiple generations of the new creature found along the nation's east coast.
Scientists say the discovery of interbred sharks could signal the presence of new "tropical" sharks in waters as far south as Sydney, The Australian reported.
"Wild hybrids are usually hard to find, so detecting hybrids and their offspring is extraordinary," said Jennifer Ovenden from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
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Fifty-seven of the marine animals were found along a 1,243-mile (2,000-km) stretch between northern New South Wales and far north Queensland, with Ovenden calling the discovery "unprecedented."
The new shark is a hybrid of the genetically distinct Australian blacktip, whose range extends north from Brisbane, and the larger common blacktip found in southeastern coastal waters.
The scientists say interbreeding between the two shark species is a sign the animals are adapting to climate change and they also warn that hybridization could make the sharks stronger.
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Does genetically distinct really mean different species? If so, then aren't there several species of humans running around ?
Or so the animal rights whackos would have us believe, when they put species on the Endangered Species list, just to stop whatever nasty human activity may be going on in their "delicate habitat". :whatever:
I wonder how many different species of dog we'd have, under this tortured strain of "logic"??
"Wild hybrids are usually hard to find, so detecting hybrids and their offspring is extraordinary," said Jennifer Ovenden from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Something else I just noticed in the article:Didn't you watch Jurassic Park?
Now, I'll admit it's been a while since I was in 10th grade biology class, but I seem to recall, natural hybrids - a mule (the offspring of a horse and a jackass) being the commonly used example - were generally STERILE. How is it, if these really are two distinct and separate species of shark, that the HYBRIDS - these Black-tip Mule Sharks, for want of a better name - are capable of producing OFFSPRING??? :confused:
Sounds to me like maybe somebody created two separate classifications of the same species, so as to under-report the population and thus get them listed as protected animals, and now mother nature is coming along and tossing her big-assed wrench into the scam.
Something else I just noticed in the article:
Now, I'll admit it's been a while since I was in 10th grade biology class, but I seem to recall, natural hybrids - a mule (the offspring of a horse and a jackass) being the commonly used example - were generally STERILE. How is it, if these really are two distinct and separate species of shark, that the HYBRIDS - these Black-tip Mule Sharks, for want of a better name - are capable of producing OFFSPRING??? :confused:
Sounds to me like maybe somebody created two separate classifications of the same species, so as to under-report the population and thus get them listed as protected animals, and now mother nature is coming along and tossing her big-assed wrench into the scam.