The Mysterious Sevengill Sharks Are Dinosaurs Living Among Us

This shark is a living, breathing fossil and the mystery surrounding it makes one of the most interesting sharks SZtv has found in the depth of the ocean. The sevengill shark is believed to be related to the prehistoric sharks from the Jurassic.Show more

The South Africa’s mission was considered to be a total write off, but despite of the bad weather condition, these divers’ trip ended on a high note, after meeting with the living fossil!

You may not notice, but most sharks have just five gills, and this prehistoric fish has two extra gills. Alone they seem harmless, but they have been reported to hunt in packs.

The broadnose sevengill shark is the only common coastal member of the cow shark family, most other members prefer deep-water. Even though, the basic biology of the whole group remains somewhat mysterious, this large species have been studied the most. It is distributed widely in the world’s temperate coastal waters.

It has a short, blunt snout, and one dorsal fin far back on the body. Despite of the extra two gills, it can be distinguished from the other sharks by its broad head, larger body, smaller eye, large anal fin, and small black and white spots covering the back and fins. Also, the lower jaw has six rows of large teeth. Are sevengill sharks the dinosaurs living among us?

Among its many other common names are sevengill shark, broad snouted sevengill, ground shark, Pacific sevengill shark, spotted cow shark, and Tasmanian tiger shark.