>>The bonnethead shark or shovelhead (Sphyrna tiburo) is a small member of the hammerhead shark genus Sphyrna, and part of the family Sphyrnidae. It is an abundant species on the American littoral, is the only shark species known to display sexual dimorphism in the morphology of the head, and is the only shark species known to be omnivorous.<<

>>Bonnetheads also ingest large amounts of seagrass, which has been found to make up around 62.1% of gut content mass. The species appear to be omnivorous, the only known case of plant feeding in sharks. A 2018 study with a carbon isotope-labelled seagrass diet found that they could digest seagrass with at least moderate efficiency, with 50±2% digestibility of seagrass organic matter, and had cellulose-component-degrading enzyme activity in their hindgut.<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnethead

PermeateFree said:

>>The bonnethead shark or shovelhead (Sphyrna tiburo) is a small member of the hammerhead shark genus Sphyrna, and part of the family Sphyrnidae. It is an abundant species on the American littoral, is the only shark species known to display sexual dimorphism in the morphology of the head, and is the only shark species known to be omnivorous.<<

>>Bonnetheads also ingest large amounts of seagrass, which has been found to make up around 62.1% of gut content mass. The species appear to be omnivorous, the only known case of plant feeding in sharks. A 2018 study with a carbon isotope-labelled seagrass diet found that they could digest seagrass with at least moderate efficiency, with 50±2% digestibility of seagrass organic matter, and had cellulose-component-degrading enzyme activity in their hindgut.<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnethead

A very interesting shark indeed. I’m pretty sure that this has never featured in a TV wildlife documentary that has been shown here.

There have been a startlingly large number of new shark species discovered since the year 2000.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

>>The bonnethead shark or shovelhead (Sphyrna tiburo) is a small member of the hammerhead shark genus Sphyrna, and part of the family Sphyrnidae. It is an abundant species on the American littoral, is the only shark species known to display sexual dimorphism in the morphology of the head, and is the only shark species known to be omnivorous.<<

>>Bonnetheads also ingest large amounts of seagrass, which has been found to make up around 62.1% of gut content mass. The species appear to be omnivorous, the only known case of plant feeding in sharks. A 2018 study with a carbon isotope-labelled seagrass diet found that they could digest seagrass with at least moderate efficiency, with 50±2% digestibility of seagrass organic matter, and had cellulose-component-degrading enzyme activity in their hindgut.<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnethead

A very interesting shark indeed. I’m pretty sure that this has never featured in a TV wildlife documentary that has been shown here.

There have been a startlingly large number of new shark species discovered since the year 2000.

It wouldn’t make t6he deadly 60.

Possibly its ancestors grazed on small fish hiding in the seagrass, and those who took in more seagrass while doing so benefited more than those who didn’t, so eventually evolution favoured the ones who could digest more grass and had more of a taste for it.

Bubblecar said:

Possibly its ancestors grazed on small fish hiding in the seagrass, and those who took in more seagrass while doing so benefited more than those who didn’t, so eventually evolution favoured the ones who could digest more grass and had more of a taste for it.

I wonder how many times vegetarian sharks have been driven to extinction since sharks first appeared on Earth.

I mean, wouldn’t a freezing of the upper ocean kill off the large ocean plants and therefore the vegetarian sea creatures?

mollwollfumble said:

Bubblecar said:

Possibly its ancestors grazed on small fish hiding in the seagrass, and those who took in more seagrass while doing so benefited more than those who didn’t, so eventually evolution favoured the ones who could digest more grass and had more of a taste for it.

I wonder how many times vegetarian sharks have been driven to extinction since sharks first appeared on Earth.

I mean, wouldn’t a freezing of the upper ocean kill off the large ocean plants and therefore the vegetarian sea creatures?

Plenty of marine herbivorous fish.