As you can see, it is a continuation of Fun Facts which contains amazing, mind-boggling, and seemingly odd science facts that can widen your eyes and mouth, and makes you question about life, and perhaps change the way you view life, the world, the...
It is common knowledge that all fishes have bones because the majority of us eat fish and we discard their spiky bones. We also know that the function of bones is to hold the muscles and shape the body of these bony sea creatures. However, not all types of fish have bones and we call these Chondrichthyes. These species have no actual bones, only cartilages. Sharks, stingrays, manta ray, and sawfish are part of the Chondrichthyes family. But let's focus on sharks because they are more awesome.
Cartilage is a flexible soft tissue but strong enough to hold the muscle and skin. We can find this rubber-like connective tissue in our nose and ears. Being a cartilaginous predator hones their hunting skills. It helps them bend their bodies at sharper angles, move quickly and maneuveringly because they are more lightweight, and extend their jaws easily for stronger bite force. But we know how soft cartilage is so it raises a question how sharks can aggressively bite a prey and tear some of its body parts apart. Well, the answer is some of their cartilage is calcified. But still, it is not an actual bone, just a cartilage that is hardened. It has the same strength as human bones but more flexible. Sharks' backbones and jaws are made of calcified cartilage.
Moreover, unlike our bones, sharks' cartilages do not produce red blood cells, essential in providing oxygen and other essential nutrients to their body. Rather, their blood is produced in their spleen, epigonal organ and leydig's organ.
Additional fact, Sharks skin is rough, and it feels like a sandpaper when touched. Their scales are made of dentin, the inner layer that is underneath of human teeth's outer layer, enamel. We call their rough skin dermal denticles and its purpose is to reduce friction or lower the drag, which increase their movement speed.
*below is the image of shark's skin
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Fun fact, female sharks have thicker skin than males because male sharks like biting them whenever they mate. Yeap, they have a kinky sadomasochistic sex.
