prehistoric

The scientists have released a brief description of what they claim to be the first goblin shark in the Mediterranean, based on a single low-quality photograph provided to them by citizen scientists in May 2022. At the same time, none of the researchers personally saw the shark – All they had was this photo. The photograph allegedly showing an ancient living shark was not to scale, and scientists were unable to accurately report its size.

Goblin sharks – elusive deep-sea fish that have been documented in many parts of the world but never seen before in the Mediterranean. If the scientists’ finding is true, it may be why various advanced research and programs have been funded for the conservation of marine nature. However, many researchers doubted the accuracy of the scientists’ findings.

what experts say

Shark experts and marine biologists stumbled upon the images published last year and expressed their skepticism online. They noted that the shark in the photo looks rather odd – it has the wrong number of gills, it’s too small, and parts of its body don’t look right. Simply put: many marine life enthusiasts thought it looked more like a figurine than a real dead shark, for example.

In response, the study’s authors tried to explain the animal’s strange appearance by the fact that the photo could be a deformed shark embryo due to egg ingestion in the womb.

However, the shark science world was not convinced by his arguments. They even found a plastic toy on eBay that looked suspiciously like the one the scientists had “photographed.”

Experts have found a plastic goblin shark toy that looks suspiciously like what scientists “found” / Screenshot from e-Bay

Later, the authors were convinced that the photo they received from an independent scientist was most likely a fake. Last week, they released the official withdrawal of their work. However, this does not mean that there are no goblin sharks in the Mediterranean – it is quite possible that they have not yet been found.

Scientists have discovered the remains of an ancient ichthyosaur

Paleontologists on the island of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean, have found the remains of an ichthyosaur. These are large extinct marine reptiles.

They flourished throughout most of the Mesozoic era and first appeared about 250 million years ago. So they are older than dinosaurs.