The Sensory system:
Sharks and rays have one of the best sensory systems in the animal kingdom. This system is responsible for the animals hearing, vision, smell and electrical-sensing. This system is important because it helps them in any of their daily activities such as, anything from hunting for food or even swimming. If it wasn't for the sensory system the shark or ray would be clueless. It wouldn't know where it is, where it is going or what's around them. This would basically impede them from living a normal day in their environment which would probably cause them to die, because they also use this system to help them track their prey.
Sharks and rays have one of the best sensory systems in the animal kingdom. This system is responsible for the animals hearing, vision, smell and electrical-sensing. This system is important because it helps them in any of their daily activities such as, anything from hunting for food or even swimming. If it wasn't for the sensory system the shark or ray would be clueless. It wouldn't know where it is, where it is going or what's around them. This would basically impede them from living a normal day in their environment which would probably cause them to die, because they also use this system to help them track their prey.
Hearing and Vision: Hearing and vision also play a part in the sharks role of hunting, although many people think it doesn't at all. For example their hearing is sharp but especially for low pitched sounds, such as the one a wounded or hurt animal would make. Being able to hear these sounds meters away, they can basically guarantee themself an easy meal. Sharks hear from little holes that they have instead of ears, which are connected to internal hearing organs. Their vision is also more important than everyone thinks. They have a keen sense of sight that is well adapted to see long distances in the marine environment. They also have both rod and cone cells in their eyes. The rod cells in their eyes also allow them to see both light and darkness while the cone cells they have allow them to see color. Their eyes are similar to other animals, except that they dont ever close their eyes. Therefore, to protect their eyes while feeding or attacking prey they possess a membrane that covers their eyes in these situations.
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Smell and Taste: Sharks have an extremely good sense of smell. They can smell chemicals and other substances that have been in the water for a long time and thats been dissolved a million times over. One example of these chemical or substances they can smell is blood, which is helpful to find wounded animals they can attack. Shark's smell is so amazong because they have to nares which are nasal cavaties. One of them is for water to go in and the other one for water to exit. When the water goes in they have sensory cells that is able to get all this information, which is passed on to the brain, from the water that they sniffed in.
Surprisingly sharks actually don't even have a tongue, so what helps them taste, may you ask? They have taste buds but they are located in the mouth of the shark. Their taste buds are sensitive to fat in their prey which is why they have a diet of a lot of energy and fat. These senses combined greatly help the shark find it s prey and help the track them down, which results in having a healthy and fulfilled life. |
Electrical-sensing: Electrical sensing is sharks and ray's way of feeling around them. They can use this sense for both finding prey or even for navigation. The Ampullae of Lorenzini is the name of the organs that are part of this sensory system. The Ampullae of Lorenzini are like little holes or pores that are located around the head of the shark. This organ allows the shark to feel magnetic fields produced by other animals or by oceanic currents. Being able to detect both of these are very important because this allows them to find prey easier even in the dark. They feel the magnetic field their potential prey makes when they move or make a movement. This is like an advanced version of touch because they can feel things move without them actually touchi Also the if it is able to detect oceanic currents produced in the magnetic field of the earth, then it can aid in navigation.
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