| Summary: | When pondering its rapid growth, scientists deduce that the vast array of prey and the tiger shark’s infamous diet contribute to this unique adaption (11). Modern accounts tell of car bumpers, license plates, and bags of money that have all been removed from the stomachs of tiger sharks. This species is notorious for eating anything and everything including turtles, dolphins, fish, rays, house pets lost in shipwrecks and hurricanes, and even other sharks. The tiger shark is the second most dangerous shark to humans. Its insatiable hunger leads to its dominance in both its environment as well its metabolism (20). [photo] Tiger shark (32) Another distinction between the Greenland shark and the tiger shark lies in how metabolism relates to longevity. As stated above, the frigid waters and lack of speed that the Greenland shark displays lead scientists to believe that its metabolism is equally quelled. Conditions are completely opposite when observing the tiger shark. It’s a fast-moving, aggressive animal that has been known to hunt anything that it comes into contact with (including humans) (11). Upon dissection, as far back as the 1700’s, a barrel of nails and a medieval suit of armor have been removed from a tiger shark’s stomach. This is the only shark capable of such bazar tastes because it has the adaption that the muscle wall of the stomach is three times thicker than any other shark (12). That gives it the rare ability to break down just about anything and extract nutrients from litter and other waste products. Its metabolism has been compared to that of an Olympic swimmer. It is constantly moving and living in a tropical environment and has no issues finding its next meal. One can make the logical leap that its shorter lifespan 39
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