🦈 Shark teeth in whale skulls in the North Sea
Follow us on Google News (click on ☆)
These fossilized skulls come from Belgium, one belonging to an extinct small right whale and the other to a relative of modern belugas. Their discovery, made by amateurs and scientists several decades ago, only revealed its full significance with recent technological advances.
A painted reconstruction of a sand tiger shark scavenging on the carcass of an extinct right whale during the early Pliocene in the southern North Sea. A group of whales related to belugas swims in the background.
Credit: Alexander Lovegrove
The study of the fossils was conducted using tomographic scanners, a non-invasive technology that allows visualization of the inside of bones without altering them. These images revealed fragments of shark teeth deeply embedded, indicating that the bites occurred after the whales' deaths, likely during scavenging episodes. This method made it possible to determine the predators involved with precision.
The identified teeth belonged to species such as the sand tiger shark and a close ancestor of the great white shark, animals that no longer inhabit the southern North Sea today. Their attacks are concentrated on fatty areas such as the whales' melon.
During the Pliocene, the North Sea hosted species like large sharks and whales, forming a structured trophic assemblage. The fossils, with their bite marks, record these relationships, demonstrating, for example, how predators targeted specific areas of the carcasses.
Photographs showing shark bite marks on a partial skull of an extinct right whale, with marks highlighted in red, and on a monodontid skull, targeting the fatty melon. Comparisons with modern skulls are included.
Credit: Photos and illustrations by Olivier Lambert (RBINS)
These findings enhance our knowledge of Pliocene marine communities, a time when large predators and whales shared the region. Scientists also note that ongoing climate changes could influence the future distribution of marine species, with a potential return of predators like great white sharks to these waters.
With current global warming, the distribution of marine species is evolving, which could alter predator-prey relationships. Thus, if seal populations were to increase in the North Sea, it could attract large predators like white sharks, disrupting current balances. Lessons from the past then provide a framework for considering these future changes.