Progressive Wednesday

“Living fossil” lived

In “Pretty Damned Good News for Nature News”, there’s this:

A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.

… Marine park staff caught the 1.6 meter (5 ft) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a “living fossil” because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The severely ill animal was captured, but “the shark died a few hours after being caught.” But (and this is a Sir-Mix-A-Lot-sized but) at least these somewhat ugly suckers are still kicking and screaming (or swimming and… well, I don’t know what sound sharks make). The platypus, the llama, the manatee, and now this ridiculously wonderful creation. A divine high five to Whomever made this thing possible — it boggles the imagination, I tell you, and not this kind of Boggle neither. It’s glorious, really.

You can learn more about Chlamydoselachus anguineus here, or you can take a gander at a photo for yourself, or you can watch some footage below:

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