# World-first hybrid shark found off Australia



## entropy13 (Jan 4, 2012)

Scientists said on Tuesday that they had discovered the world's first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, a potential sign the predators were adapting to cope with climate change.

The mating of the local Australian black-tip shark with its global counterpart, the common black-tip, was an unprecedented discovery with implications for the entire shark world, said lead researcher Jess Morgan.

"It's very surprising because no one's ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination," Morgan, from the University of Queensland, told AFP.

"This is evolution in action."

Colin Simpfendorfer, a partner in Morgan's research from James Cook University, said initial studies suggested the hybrid species was relatively robust, with a number of generations discovered across 57 specimens.

The find was made during cataloguing work off Australia's east coast when Morgan said genetic testing showed certain sharks to be one species when physically they looked to be another.

The Australian black-tip is slightly smaller than its common cousin and can only live in tropical waters, but its hybrid offspring have been found 2,000 kilometres down the coast, in cooler seas.

It means the Australian black-tip could be adapting to ensure its survival as sea temperatures change because of global warming.



Full article here.


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## ShiBDiB (Jan 4, 2012)

huh?

Arent the oceans getting warmer? So how is mating with sharks that live in colder water adapting.. Sounds like the opposite to me.



Sounds like another scientists stretch at linking something to global warming when it isnt.


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## entropy13 (Jan 4, 2012)

ShiBDiB said:


> huh?
> 
> Arent the oceans getting warmer? So how is mating with sharks that live in colder water adapting.. Sounds like the opposite to me.
> 
> ...



Sounds like you didn't read the whole thing too. 

EDIT: Actually, based on what you specifically said (this part: "So how is mating with sharks that live in colder water adapting"), it's more like you didn't really understand what it means, and what the article said.


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## Widjaja (Jan 4, 2012)

Or maybe the sharks are getting bored of eating the same breakfast so they are getting it on with other similar species for a bit of spice. 

Ultimately there is always going to be enough breeding between species for it to eventually be noticed.

I sometimes see white-eye/Sparrow mixes out this way but highly doubt it is related to global warming.


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## erocker (Jan 4, 2012)

Pretty sure it's aliens and solar flares.


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## BlackOmega (Jan 4, 2012)




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## Bundy (Jan 4, 2012)

The Australian coastline is very big, and our researchers lowly funded. I strongly doubt this shark is new in a biological sense. The researchers have just discovered this hybrid and are recasting their story to get more funding.


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## DannibusX (Jan 4, 2012)

Not worried until hybrid bear sharks start attacking joggers in Central Park.


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## Widjaja (Jan 4, 2012)

Bundy said:


> The Australian coastline is very big, and our researchers lowly funded. I strongly doubt this shark is new in a biological sense. The researchers have just discovered this hybrid and are recasting their story to get more funding.



I agree with this.

There is so much of the ocean which has not been explored thoroughly.

Mermaids.....

Now that would get me thinking.


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## entropy13 (Jan 4, 2012)

Bundy said:


> The Australian coastline is very big, and our researchers lowly funded. I strongly doubt this shark is new in a biological sense. The researchers have just discovered this hybrid and are recasting their story to get more funding.



They just said they discovered them now, but they are by no means "new" in a biological sense...unless you have a different conception of "a number of generations."


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## entropy13 (Jan 4, 2012)

DannibusX said:


> Not worried until hybrid bear sharks start attacking joggers in Central Park.


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## DannibusX (Jan 4, 2012)

None of that worries me though.  It's not a hybrid bearshark.

Both of those scenarios would seem totally legit to me.


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## HossHuge (Jan 4, 2012)

Wake me when you start to see these.


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## Mussels (Jan 4, 2012)

hahahahahaa, all you foreigners thought you were safe from dangerous australian wildlife.

 THINK AGAIN. 

THEY ARE COMING TO GET YOU.


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