Hybrid Sharks Found in Australian Waters

[DefiantSix]

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.

<snip>

No word yet on whether they have frikkin' laser beams or not. 

[thundley4]

Does genetically distinct really mean different species?  If so, then aren't there several species of humans running around ?

[DefiantSix]

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".

I wonder how many different species of dog we'd have, under this tortured strain of "logic"??

[Wineslob]

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".

I wonder how many different species of dog we'd have, under this tortured strain of "logic"??

With Glowballs Warming we might get.................................................HOT DOGS.












 

[RightCoast]

They also had a nice shout-out to glowball warming in there. I like how EVERYTHING proves that the Earth is warming, yet you can't find a real article on the subject anymore. Just little anecdotal jabs in the eye. 

[DefiantSix]

What I find laughable, is that the article lauds the Aussies for discovering "THE WORLD'S FIRST" hybrid shark.  Sharks have been around a lot longer than man has, and will likely be the world's most efficient killing machine long after man has gone the way of the dinosaurs.  In that context then, what are the incredibly long odds that this the FIRST TIME IN THE EARTH'S LONG HISTORY that sharks of two "different species" have done the horizontal mambo and produced offspring - hybrid or otherwise - as a result.

[Rugnuts]

so the northern sharks bred with the southern sharks?
so what. my friend married a southern belle. is the Ozone to blame?

[DefiantSix]

Something else I just noticed in the article:

"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.

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???

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.

[Airwolf]

[Rebel]

[JohnnyReb]

Born outside US waters, half breed...your next democrat presidential candidate.

[FiddyBeowulf]

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???

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.

Didn't you watch Jurassic Park?

[Gratiot]

+1 on being more concerned about bionic sharks.  When they learn how to integrate lasers into their heads, well... I for one will salute our aquatic overlords!

My goal will be to become the number one snitch for the sharks.  Any of you who've ever ate shark meat... I'm telling.  Any of you who didn't say "God Bless You" when I sneezed... oh, I'm turning you in as well!  Snitch life 

[SaintLouieWoman]

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???

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.

Good find. I'll ask about this at Mote Marine next week. Today I met the "shark lady", Dr Eugenie Clark, who's in her late 80's and still comes to her office at Mote Marine Research almost every day. She's a legend amongst oceanographers and an expert on sharks. I had never seen her there before, as I work in a building on the other side of the campus from her office. The sharks are in the aquarium in the facility near her office. We're over with the dolphins, turtles and manatees.