According to scientists, 90% of the Ocean remains unexplored to this day. Still, that didn’t stop us from discovering different and unique species, every now and then. However, scientists didn’t hope to discover an ancient shark with snake head, until now. The dinosaur-era shark has 300 teeth and a head of a snake. The terrifying shark was found off the Portuguese coast.
The mentioned shark was caught in a net by a trawler, which was used during a research project on “how to minimize unwanted catches during commercial fishing,” Sic Noticias TV reports. This rare species that was caught dates back 80 million years, which is far before the human race walked on Earth. The discovery of the ancient shark with snake head made everyone surprised given that the animals living in its time such as Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops died out a long time ago, yet this sea-dwelling animal hasn’t. The shark has frilled teeth, long and slim body, and is swimming extremely deep around 2,300 feet.
Professor Margarida Castro from the University of the Algarve told Sic Noticias that ancient shark with snakehead has 300 teeth “which allows it to strap squid, fish and other sharks in sudden lunges.” The Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere said that the captured shark measured 1.5 m in length and was swimming around the Algarve coast.
The Shark swims in the Atlantic, and in waters near Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, mostly because of the deep waters. The shark is constantly in darkness, facing huge pressure, and frigid temperatures. It is still unclear why and how this species survived while its siblings, and other animals that lived at this time haven’t. After the discovery of the ancient shark with snake head, it is believed that the frilled shark was the reason that inspired the 19th-century sailors’ stories of sea serpents.
This is not the first discovery of this kind. A few years ago, a long, toothy eel was discovered decomposing on a Texas beach. The discovered, washed up eel was likely a member of the snake-eel Opichthidae family.
As mentioned earlier, more than 90% of the ocean remains unexplored until this day. That being said, there must be a lot of different species that hide in the depth of the ocean. Who knows, maybe we will discover more species that we thought that died out, in the future.
Anyhow, what do you think about this scary ancient shark with a snake head that was found near Portugal Coast? Do you still feel comfortable with swimming in the Ocean? Please let us know!
