Using Shark Teeth to Decipher Evolutionary Processes
Published:20 May2022 Source:University of Vienna
For the tiger shark, this gap has now been closed with a study that was conducted at the Department of Palaeontology of the University of Vienna and published in the Journal of Anatomy at the end of April. Using geometric morphometrics on teeth of the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier, Julia Türtscher and her colleagues analysed and described in detail the tooth shapes for its four different developmental stages, from embryo to adult.
"Our results show that the shape of shark teeth changes gradually and subtly during the shark's life: The teeth become larger on the one hand and more complex on the other" , Türtscher says. As such the teeth of these sharks exhibit multiple serrations, and each of these serrations is serrated again -- secondarily -- in adult animals. This complex structure allows adult tiger sharks to feed on an incredibly wide range of prey: They can even cut through turtle shells with ease, as well as through large prey such as other sharks or marine mammals.