The first breed of hybrid sharks in the world has been discovered by scientists in Australian waters and this is evidence that predators are finally adapting to climate change. This has been brought about by mating the Australian black-tip shark with its counterpart the common black-tip shark. Shark hybrids have never been heard of before and this is a newly discovered phenomenon that is bound to revolutionize the scientific world as we know it. Collin Simpfedorfer, a researcher from James Cook University said that initial studies showed that the hybrids were highly robust with various generations discovered across 57 specimens investigated.
Research showed that the sharks displayed genetic composition of a certain species while physical attributes were of a different species. The Australian black-tip is known to be smaller than its common counterpart and usually prefers tropical waters but its hybrid offspring were found in cooler waters 2000 kilometers down the coast. This is being pointed out as evidence of the Australian black-tip adapting to enable them survive in the changing sea temperatures. This has allowed it to move further south to cooler waters and thus expanded its horizon. This has allowed them to inhabit temperate waters, something they were not known to do before.
Researchers are also looking at the effect of human fishing and climate change on the species. Genetic mapping is being used as they try to establish if this trend is a recent occurrence or something that has existed for longer. There are bids to establish if the hybrids are stronger than the pure breeds and if they may eventually outlast their predecessors.
The hybrids are known to be fairly fit and fairly abundant accounting for up to 20 percent of the black-tip population though this does not occur at the expense of the pure breeds.
The results of this research are set to challenge the views that have been there before regarding separation of species in sharks and thus a pointer that we may not have a full understanding of the mechanisms that separate the species.
