apex predators
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The Sharks, Ranked
Sharks, glorious sharks. One of the trinity that makes up elasmobranchs, a group of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks, rays, and skates. Sharks get their fair—actually unfair—share of hate for negative portrayals in media, especially of great white sharks, but the animals are intelligent denizens of all the world’s oceans. For the sake of my…
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Living Newborn Great White Shark Seen for the First Time Ever
Footage taken off the coast of Santa Barbara has captured something new to science: a living newborn great white shark. The shark’s discovery could help researchers finally learn where white sharks—one of the ocean’s top predators—birth their young. The 5-foot-long pup was photographed by drone in July 2023; it was covered in a thin, whitish…
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Tyrannosaur Ate Baby Dino Drumsticks Before It Died, Stunning Fossil Reveals
A team of paleontologists revealed a remarkable fossil: a young tyrannosaurid with the hindlimbs of two year-old dinosaurs in its stomach. In other words, this theropod was chowing down on baby legs. The fossil is the first example of in-situ stomach contents in a tyrannosaur, the team said. Besides offering a unique window into the…
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Endangered Orcas in the Pacific Northwest Are Battling a Mysterious Skin Disease
Orcas in the Pacific Northwest are battling some kind of unknown skin disease, new research out this week suggests. The study found photographic evidence that these orcas have been developing more and more mysterious lesions over the years. It’s not clear yet how harmful this trend may be, but it’s the latest potential threat to…