Sharks spiral intestines work like a Nikola Tesla invention futurity.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from futurity.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
E-Mail
IMAGE: A CT scan image of the spiral intestine of a Pacific spiny dogfish shark (Squalus suckleyi). The beginning of the intestine is on the left, and the end is on. view more
Credit: Samantha Leigh/California State University Dominguez Hills
Contrary to what popular media portrays, we actually don t know much about what sharks eat. Even less is known about how they digest their food, and the role they play in the larger ocean ecosystem.
For more than a century, researchers have relied on flat sketches of sharks digestive systems to discern how they function and how what they eat and excrete impacts other species in the ocean. Now, researchers have produced a series of high-resolution, 3D scans of intestines from nearly three dozen shark species that will advance the understanding of how sharks eat and digest their food.