Against the grain: untangling the tangled denticles of basking sharks
Schindler, M.; Li, A.; Mollen, F.H.; Payne, N.; Amini, S.; Surapaneni, V.A.; Hu, R.; Dean, M. (2025). Against the grain: untangling the tangled denticles of basking sharks, in: SCIB 2025: The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference, 3-7 January, Atlanta, GA.
In: (2025). SCIB 2025: The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference, 3-7 January, Atlanta, GA: Abstracts. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB): Herndon. , more
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Document type: Summary
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| Authors | | Top |
- Schindler, M.
- Li, A.
- Mollen, F.H., more
- Payne, N.
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- Amini, S.
- Surapaneni, V.A.
- Hu, R.
- Dean, M.
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| Abstract |
In contrast to other sharks, slow swimming basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus), high-volume suspension feeders, are covered by massive conical denticles. Shark denticles are effectively teeth embedded in the skin, with most examples diminutive (<500µm) and consisting of a wide basal plate, tapering towards an angled pointed crown, often bearing ridges. As a group, denticles are organized in streamlined series on the skin, their cusps pointing towards the tail, reducing drag. In sharp contrast to this canonical pattern, we show that basking shark denticles are densely and focally clumped to form ‘paver blocks’ separated by unscaled folds. In each block, denticles are radially arranged like floral whorls, their tips pointing toward and interdigitating with denticles of neighboring blocks. The wrinkling resembles the skin of elephants, with folds oriented to prescribe local anisotropic flexibility. Using high-resolution µCT scans, histology, mechanical tests and large-area laser scanning, we characterized how the significant shape and orientation of basking shark denticles differ from other species’ and discuss how variations of denticles and skin alignment along the body promote extreme stretching of the head skin for oral volume enlargement during feeding. These investigations provide much-needed insights into basking shark anatomy, for understanding the evolution and ecological constraints of large marine suspension filter feeders and for the design of dynamic bio-inspired textiles. |
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