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EVO students ventured to the ocean to learn about sharks from evolutionary biologist Dr. Joshua Moyer. Students started by learning some of the basics about our fishy friends, including the definition (and pronunciation!) of Chondrichthyes, a class of cartilaginous fish including sharks, rays, and skates. Students also learned about shark anatomy, such as the structure of a shark’s jaw and its function in helping sharks catch their prey. EVO students even inspected rows of sharp teeth in a real shark’s jaw!
Students then visited the vertebrate zoology department at the Peabody Museum to see fossilized shark teeth. Under Dr. Moyer’s guidance, EVO students compared prehistoric shark teeth to their more modern counterparts, noting the differences in their structure and how the fossilized teeth have been weathered over time. Dr. Moyer taught students about the past reconstructions of shark jaws and the difficulties of accurately representing now-extinct species, including the Megalodon.
Before the end of the oceanic tour, EVO students visited preserved Chondrichthyes to examine real sharks up close while Dr. Moyer explained the preservation process of shark specimens. Students studied the anatomical differences between male and female sharks, such as the claspers and tenaculum present on male sharks, which aid in sharks’ reproductive processes.
EVO students had a variety of reactions to our ichthyology lesson; some were awed by the shark specimens, some were averse to them, but everyone found the lesson deeply interesting. Personally, Dr. Moyer’s visit was one of my favorite EVO classes ever—not only did we see some amazing tooth fossils and preserved Chondrichthyes, we learned so much incredible information about sharks and their evolution. It was definitely a fascinating class for any EVO student interested in marine or evolutionary biology, but also for every EVO student in general!
After EVO’s trip to the vertebrate zoology department, there’s one thing we certainly can all agree with—ichthyology is jaw-some, for shore!