The basking shark, or what is sometimes referred to as the filter-feeding shark, is one of the largest fish in the world. But while it might look outlandish, it has an even more outlandish quality according to marine biologists. It’s not cold-blooded.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 This wild-looking creature is one of the largest shark
00:06 species known, called the basking shark,
00:08 or what is sometimes referred to as the filter-feeding shark.
00:11 While it might look outlandish, it
00:13 has an even more outlandish quality,
00:15 according to marine biologists.
00:16 Unlike 99.9% of other shark and fish species,
00:20 it's not entirely cold-blooded.
00:22 In the last half century, it was discovered
00:24 that some sharks, most notably the great white,
00:26 had some body parts that were warmer
00:28 than the surrounding ocean water.
00:29 Meaning they have been categorized
00:31 as regionally endothermic, or partially warm-blooded.
00:34 Experts long believed this was likely due to their apex
00:37 predator status.
00:38 But now, that same partial warm-bloodedness
00:40 has been observed in the basking shark,
00:42 confounding marine biologists.
00:44 According to the researchers, they
00:46 believe the warm-bloodedness was a trait
00:47 that helped higher food chain creatures achieve their status.
00:50 But add quote, "Now we have found a species that
00:53 grazes on tiny plankton, but also
00:55 shares those rather uncommon regional endotherm features.
00:58 So we might have to adjust our assumptions
01:00 about the advantages of such physiological innovations
01:03 for these animals."
01:04 The researchers dissected a couple of the sharks
01:06 in the hopes of figuring out how it all works,
01:08 discovering compact muscles around the shark's heart.
01:11 Something they say allows them to increase their blood
01:13 pressure and maintain higher temperatures
01:15 in other muscular tissue.
01:18 [Music]