The Two Coolest Things we Know About Sharks

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[ayerhead]

Oh my God this lady knows so much about sharks and I'm obsessed. I could watch people rave about their niche interests forever

[mikamekaze]

"I want the megalodon to still be aliiiive"
"You're the only one."

[coelacanthropology]

Something I think is interesting is that dermal denticles actually predate jaws! So… it’s less that denticles are skin teeth and more that teeth are mouth skin. Coelacanths (my favorite) have dermal denticles too!

[abigailparks]

Just noticed the dancing frogs lamp in Hanks background and I am absolutely delighted

[RealUlrichLeland]

One of the strangest facts I've heard is that very young human infants can regenerate their fingertips up to the first joint because of their abundance of stem cells.

Also deer are more closely related to whales than horses, and horse chesnut trees are more closely related to broccoli than they are to sweet chestnut trees.

[Sam_dea]

My favorite fact is that there’s nothing in human DNA that gives your fingerprint a unique pattern. The pattern comes from your skin stretching and forming as you are moving around within the womb. That’s why identical twins have unique fingerprints even though they have the same genetic code.

That one always gets folks to do a little gasp and look at their own hands for a minute.

[DynamicAero]

I love that Jaida has a killer whale tattoo, is talking about whale sharks, and specializes in shark science (sharkology?). It's a perfect confluence of marine coolness that would have fascinated me at 12.

[vexillian]

My favorite shark fact is that we don't currently know how Great White's mate. The behavior has never been witnessed. So if they got some funky ritual or something, it's yet to be discovered. We obviously have pretty good ideas and all, but they're just ideas at this point.

[InnuendoStudios]

Hank's new hair + talking about mammals' four-chambered hearts = Hank has become John Linnell of They Might Be Giants

[jamesgustin]

I can feel her enthusiasm and she's done amazing hosting the new videos and your talks with her are top notch! Two people enthusiastically talking about science is always great to listen to.

[pepsdeps]

I remember when I swam with a Whale Shark the first time. I had seen them from afar (not difficult coming from a coastal town), but what really changed my perspective on the scale of it all was swimming in relatively clear waters, and seeing such a big beast, the largest fish in the ocean, just swim down...and disappear from view. It is, at the same time, awe-inducing and terrifying to suddenly grasp just how Big the ocean is, while you are swimming in it.

[DeFaulty]

So what you're saying is, all whale sharks are... eye-dentical?

[JennyRosalie]

The way you explain things is amazing!

[bloklord]

If there can be an Illinois shark... Perhaps an Indianapolis shark?? Quick, sometime check on John!

[EthicalAllele]

"Good information in worth it" is such a powerful message! It is so worth it. I've been exposed to so much bad information without realizing it, and really appreciate the good information put out by complexly.

[SedraKotova-wbib]

You're so talented, don't stop creating content!

[TheBstakz]

Wouldn't it be cool to film a bird facts episode with a bird scientist and Brennan Lee Mulligan as an additional guest???

[leahstrong]

Whale sharks are my fav animal of all time and I recently got to see two in person for the first time so this episode makes me very happy

[ZehMoneyFactory]

Dermal denticles evolved before teeth and they're quite common in the fossil record because they preserve very well. There's actually lots of research that has gone into how teeth evolved and their evolutionary relation to dermal odontodes. The BBC's in our time podcast had an episode on it a few years back. It's a pretty good introduction if you want to avoid having to read through dozens of papers.

[rockbass]

The winter after hurricane Katrina, live bull sharks where found under the ice in Minnesota.