Sharks

Feared by most, loved by some and hunted by many, sharks are one of the most mysterious groups of creatures roaming the Earth today. Defined as a fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a sleek, streamlined body, a shark can range in size from the two foot pygmy shark, to the colossal 50-foot whale shark.There are more than 250 different species of sharks currently identified, making it one of the most diverse animal genera on the planet. Sharks are found in every major body of saltwater in the world, but are more common in warmer waters. There are a small number of shark species that do thrive in fresh water, and certain sharks have been known to venture from their saltwater homes to major freshwater lakes and rivers.Most members

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The Godzilla shark, shown in this artistic concept illustration, would have been equipped with 12 rows of piercing teeth and a pair of 2.5-foot-long (0.8 meters) fin spines on its back.

300 million-year-old 'Godzilla shark' identified as new species, gets a new name

By Harry Baker

Scientists have finally classified and named the ancient 'Godzilla shark' which was first discovered in 2013 in New Mexico.

An epaulette shark swims around near the seafloor.

Baby sharks are born scrawny and sick because of climate change

By Harry Baker

Increasing ocean temperatures caused by climate change are leading sharks to be born younger, smaller and weaker.

Megalodon probably gave birth to live young, as do the majority of modern sharks.

Megalodon shark mamas had human-size cannibal babies

By Mindy Weisberger

New analysis of rare megalodon fossils revealed that their newborn babies were the biggest live babies in the shark family.

The dead basking shark was more than 26 feet long.

A truck-size shark washed up on a Maine beach. How did it die?

By Brandon Specktor

An enormous basking shark washed up dead on the coast of Maine this week. Officials have not determined the cause of death.

Photo of a great white swimming toward the camera in dark blue water.

10 times sharks made our jaws drop in 2020

By Kimberly Hickok

Here are our favorite stories about sharks from 2020.

2 people die in shark attacks. How unusual is this?

By Patrick Pester

Separate shark attacks in Hawaii and the eastern Caribbean leave two people dead. Experts say tragedies like this are rare relative to the number of people in the water.

Megalodon, the biggest predatory shark of all time, watched over its young as many modern sharks do — by raising them in defined geographic areas known as nurseries.

Megalodon nurseries reveal world’s largest shark had a soft side

By Mindy Weisberger

Scientists have identified five locations that the extinct predator Megalodon used as "nurseries" for young sharks.

A swordfish (Xiphias gladius) left part of its "sword" sticking out of the shark it killed.

Whodunit solved when 'sword' is found embedded in thresher shark

By Laura Geggel

It's a mystery why a swordfish stabbed a thresher shark to death, but it's possible they were competing for food.

Illustration of the prehistoric shark Ferromirum oukherbouchi.

Wide-eyed prehistoric shark hid its sharpest teeth in nightmare jaws

By Mindy Weisberger

New analysis of jaws from a shark that lived 370 million years ago revealed a horrific twist (literally) to the predator's toothy grin.

Unama'ki seen just below the surface here.

Massive great white shark Unama'ki spotted south of Miami

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Unama'ki is one of the largest Great White sharks tagged.

Sarah Boessenecker, who wasn't involved with the research but helped collect the fossils, finds 24 million-year-old shark teeth from a construction site in South Carolina.

24 million-year-old nursery for baby megasharks discovered in South Carolina

By Laura Geggel

The discovery of nearly 90 shark teeth, largely from young sharks, indicates there was a shark nursery here 24 million years ago.

A drone caught a close encounter between a surfer and a shark in Australia.

Drone warns surfer of very close encounter with 5-foot shark in Australia

By Stephanie Pappas

A program that uses drones to warn surfers of nearby sharks recorded a very close encounter off the coast in New South Wales.

This huge great white shark, named Nukumi, is probably about 50 years old. She was discovered off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Scientists discover great white shark 'queen of the ocean'

By Stephanie Pappas

Marine biologists have discovered an enormous great white shark they're calling the "queen of the ocean" off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Gigantism was common in extinct lamniform sharks — the group that includes Megalodon — but Megalodon was the biggest by far.

Megalodon's hugeness was 'off-the-scale' — even for a shark

By Mindy Weisberger

A new study evaluates massive Megalodon alongside all sharks in the lamniform group — living and extinct. Even among its extinct relatives, Megalodon was unequalled in length and mass.

A closeup of the skinless shark's body and toothless mouth

'Naked' shark was born without skin or teeth in world first

By Brandon Specktor

Fishers in Sardinia, Italy caught a skinless, toothless shark in a world first, new study says.

Aerial view of a stingray swimming along the ocean floor.

What are stingrays?

By Erin Banks Rusby

Stingrays are an instantly recognizable fish. The graceful swimmers glide through the water by undulating the edges of their flat, pancake-like bodies.