The Amazing Biology of Epaulette Sharks

[@SonKunSama]

I can't imagine how many sharks must have died suffocating in a tide pool to eventually evolve into having all these adaptations.

[@mkalin78]

The greatest tool of evolution is death itself.

[@arnigeir1597]

Enough.

[@keithfaulkner6319]

Lots.

[@shinaniganz4453]

Plenty. Thats natural selection

[@DragonwolfoftheSands]

The ones we have are the ones that were less prone to suffocating in tide pools

[@SlackActionBumble]

I like how she walks along the ground with her little round feet even when fully underwater. Very cute little shark.

[@imk2007]

Very cute little shark indeed

[@purplehaze2358]

Imagine if larger sharks had the ability to un-beach themselves. I think the sight of a more stereotypical shark "walking" back to the sea at a beach would certainly be a surreal one.

[@syd6654]

Waiting for sharks to grow actual legs and just walk on land

[@anyascelticcreations]

It definitely would be.

[@montamare8116]

Dr.bright what are you doing on KZbin you know you aren't allowed to comment on public forums anymore Im going to have to report you for this

[@TheColumboGaming]

You didn't hear it from me Dr. Bright, but having a land shark body would be a dope ass asset to the Foundation ;)

[@luciellawliet]

Dr. Bright you should totally make that happen, I’d love to see it- it’s gotta be useful in someway right? Well, it certainly will be for the shark-

[@ruaridhusher4373]

Finally, a video about sharks that doesn't just show how good they are at biting things. This was really interesting, well done!

[@elpistachio]

Although Epaulette Sharks aren't likely to evolve into land animals as you described, I'd like to imagine that in the future there will be descendants of this shark that grew larger to exploit the niche of other macropredators that went extinct. Imagine a shark 5 meterd long that can follow sea lions on land like an orca.

[@theveganrancor3678]

1 million years from now sorry bro can't talk gotta take my shark for a walk

[@anon9579]

So it would be like the shark that chased Yosemite Sam up the beach and he had to wack it with a bat lol

[@GreenLeafUponTheSky]

Hell naw. I got thalassophobia and now I get terraphobia

[@thepikamence1250]

Me: *laughs in shark planet*

[@hoodio]

sharknado irl🙂👍

[@karlmohr3748]

I loved these creatures since I was a child. Whenever I played the Wii game, Endless Ocean, one of them glitched to always follow me. I always loved their cute crawls and walks

[@rayblackman5327]

Great game, I’m pretty sure if you pet or feed them they follow you for a bit.

[@Verdessa1273]

Man, that's a blast from the past. That game was practically my entire childhood.

[@rayblackman5327]

@@Verdessa1273 Mine too mate, there was never anything quite like diving into the crevasse for the first time, made me feel like I was playing a blue planet episode.

[@keithfaulkner6319]

@@rayblackman5327 mom! He followed me home can i keep him please?????

[@princesseville6889]

I had a glitched, nice giant rat in my skyrim house - so I feel ya. I got so attached to him, he was cute, and didnt try to kill me once.

[@Lala-io9gn]

Come back to me in 3 million years when this thing becomes an actual land shark.

[@bonecanoe86]

It's crazy to see these sharks move on land in an almost amphibian-like way. It would be interesting to see what they would go on to do in a world where tetrapods hadn't gotten onto land first.

[@Colesalad]

Considering that they don't have swim bladders, probably what they're doing now.

[@MisterDutch93]

@@Colesalad Their cartilaginous skeletons probably wouldn't be able to support terrestrial body plans anyway.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

@@ColesaladThey can use their stomachs or gills to breathe on land. Tetrapods are not the only animals to have reached land. Tiny size helps, but there are tiny fish too.

[@televikkuntdaowuxing]

@@Colesalad Arthropods were able to come out of the water and thrive, almost anything is possible.

[@SnailHatan]

@@Colesalad Don’t need swim bladders to live on land

[@b991228]

These animals show how the crucial part of evolving into a new habitat is spending countless generations living and evolving within the the transitory line between habitats. Evolving fitness to move into a new habitat takes eons. Developing the new required fitness and losing the needless morphology from the old habitat is a process taking ages.

[@galling2052]

these are just adorable

[@satyr1349]

I'd never heard of this species, it's truly fascinating.

[@helmaschine1885]

Their name sounds like a ballet move or something lol. Probably not "fearsome" enough to feature in a "scariest sharks ever" documentaries.

[@satyr1349]

@@helmaschine1885 Or even all the David Attenborough nature documentaries I've watched over 3 decades!

[@wafikiri_]

@@helmaschine1885 Whereas epaulette, in English, means 'something that ornaments or protects the shoulder,' in French it means 'shoulder;' literally, 'little back.'

[@Dan_Kanerva]

@@wafikiri_ yeah bébé , bring me that "epaulette" over here... i am feeling romantical

[@vyvisabastard]

gotta say this channel is by far one of my favorites. i love watching these videos to sleep

[@harjapoo5793]

My favorite plaeontology youtuber!

[@elijahmikhail4566]

In my speculative evolution world, a descendant of the epaulette shark fills a catfish-like niche in river flood plains where they walk from pond to pond in search of trapped prey there. We’d like for it to evolve more amphibian traits, but we haven’t figured that out due to the mentioned lack of an air bladder that could become a lung.

[@pandemonium2421]

I love that idea! Perhaps, since gills can function outside of the water, their gills slowly became reinforced to not collapse?

[@elijahmikhail4566]

@@Vercur I’m imagining it with like a hump that can inflate and deflate which is weird but cool. Just skin and muscle would be too fragile, so maybe it would be reinforced by projections of the vertebrae?

[@elijahmikhail4566]

@@pandemonium2421 One idea I had was something like that. They’d start out kinda just gulping air like frogs do, but for some powered breathing, the gills could be covered with a muscular membrane with one terminal opening. The membrane inflates with the mouth open and the valve closed to inhale, then the membrane would deflate with the mouth closed and the valves open to exhale.

[@joshuafernandes6684]

Maybe they could evolve lungs of their gills, like arachinids did.

[@Stothehighest]

you could consider them developing something like a labyrinth organ like Betta fish do?

[@joshuafernandes6684]

Here we can see a very good exemple of how evolution works: similar pressures leads to similar paths but the species is still limited by their genetic past to what it can or not evolve. (with the certain amout of time and avaiable niches of course)

[@demetrialowther727]

Asides from their fascinating oxygen solutions and walking, I also just love the little details they've evolved to live in that semi-aquatic role. Like a hippo, crocodile, beaver or platypus, their eyes are mounted right at the very highest elevation of their head giving them the ability to spy the skies for predators or the lay of the land while still remaining partially submerged. Their low-mounted mouth must also be of great aid in allowing them to breath the very shallowest film of water before they just need to 'hold their breath'. It really is a gorgeous body plan to suit such a niche lifestyle. Plus they're just plain cute.

[@linusmarheineke7092]

Amazing a second transition to land thats going into the speculative evo book

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Oh would love to see more videos about these pretty cute and interesting shark species,know as the *walking sharks* Also hope yall are having a great weekend.

[@2secondslater]

I just want to say, I love Moth Light Media, thank you, from Australia

[@2secondslater]

Ps, their shape is very similar to the Port Jackson shark

[@rat_dragon]

MLM, mistake at 8:12 - swim bladders were not the origin of lungs, it was the exact opposite. Lungs evolved first. Swim bladders are lungs modified into a "personal floatation device" for underwater

[@astick5249]

oh yea i entirely forgot about that

[@rat_dragon]

@@astick5249 did you like "personal floatation device?"

[@stevengibson4773]

I don't think that was a mistake. I think the lungfish repurposed the already repurposed swim bladder which was previously a lung.

[@karp1677]

This is just epic.

[@lunarsoul1737]

They're very cute, enjoyed the video

[@jyoster6447]

The adaptaion of going without oxygen by shutting off non essential orgarns is really impressive. Imagine if other creatures were able to replicate this, or maybe even adapted to work on humans.

[@Pebphiz]

This is honestly one of my favorite channels on KZbin. Every single video is super informative and captivating.

[@sassa82]

Great video! Eye and ear candy!

[@nitrosherbert888]

i really like the look of these guys they look really cute for me

[@syd6654]

I love your videos so much, and the long wait between uploads are DEFINITELY worth the wait

[@TheSpeculativeDoodl]

One time in the New England/Boston aquarium, we saw an epaulette shark climb up one of the fake trees in the touch take, that was a good day.

[@silvano216]

Such an interesting video, I like that format a lot as well

[@daphneloose5880]

the epaulette or walking sharks are adorable!! would a horned shark be in the same family too? they look real similar.

[@laurachapple6795]

I love them and their funky little mustaches.

[@luukzilla1519]

Please Make A Video About Livyatan

[@angelalewis3645]

This is probably my favorite episode ever. :) Thanks for creating such awesome content, Moth Light Media!

[@dingusman7182]

God I love Epaulette sharks so much. Amazing video.

[@JuicyJam]

DRINKING GAME!!! Take a sip of your drink when there is: - a time lineage - a genetic tree - a new illustration - a size comparison Take a shot when: - the narrator says "however"

[@matthewwelsh294]

What a cute smart shark 😍 😍

[@lucpraslan]

It's called an epaulette shark because of the black spots over its pectoral fins or shoulder blades if you will. the French word for shoulder is épaule.

[@champboehm7863]

Ty for the upload

[@Scentillia389]

These walking sharks are goddamn adorable

[@FloozieOne]

Another masterpiece about an animal I never heard of before. I don't know how you do it but you come up with the most fantastic creatures and then, in your slow calm manner, tell us that such a creature is perfectly "normal" due to it's habitat, procreation or feeding strategies. Thanks again for a most interesting episode.

[@veryunusual126]

I just love your videos Thank you yet again 👍👍👍👏👏👏

[@tuckerricklefs4830]

Great video!

[@duhduhvesta]

Great job

[@advaithpillai]

@4:24, what does reflex to self-right mean?

[@quitlife9279]

to stop it from flopping over on its side.

[@dynamosaurusimperious2718]

This was pretty epic and seeing these cute sharks was a delight 😍

[@fleafrier1]

Cool video! My favorite shark and way underrated. Thanks for making this.

[@adrianrafaelmagana804]

What a fascinating and beautiful animal, nature is breathtaking.

[@lassebirkhenriksen]

i really would like to see a video on sponges

[@harryf9885]

It would be so cool if in like 50 million years these sharks end up becoming truly amphibious. I’m imagining like a komodo dragon but with a shark face and shark skin. Cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays are even more distantly related to us than the ray finned fishes, and they have independently developed some impressive adaptations that would still work well on land like their strong but flexible armor and their sophisticated teeth setup that really beats anything that any other vertebrates have come up with (rodent teeth are the closest but their continuous growth results in some limitations that the infinitely replaceable shark teeth do not have). Unfortunately, tetrapods on land already exist to make things difficult for the clumsy early land sharks and of course they have no swim bladder, if they do eventually evolve structures that prevent their gills from collapsing on land, it’s possible that their adaptations for low oxygen use could allow them to survive on the relatively smaller amount of oxygen they could gain that way, similar to land-going crustaceans like pill bugs/isopods. still, it’s probably not happening. I can dream though! Arthropods have left the water multiple times (at least 4, including the aforementioned pill bugs, centipedes/millipedes, arachnids, proto-insects) why not vertebrates?

[@speedwagon1824]

Mudskippers are amphibious aren't they

[@a.r.h9919]

If it can happen it will happen under the right set of circumstances

[@chrisgaming9567]

I've actually considered getting an Epualette Shark one day, although the required tank size is well beyond anything I could do soon

[@Funkiotologist]

I’ve always preferred fresh water fish to keep but I applaud your efforts, it’s just very hard lol and especially as I don’t own a house, in the future I’d love to make a pool pond and put my fish in it and more, my one catfish is 21 years old 😭 so he definitely will need more space eventually

[@Funkiotologist]

@PutIceOnIt always nice to see those who know how to give fish the best care 😁 it’s a labor of love but god is it amazing to see their cold dead eyes stare back at ya 😂😂😂

[@sampagano205]

I'm the same way with monitor lizards.

[@raclark2730]

@Qagmez 7668 Epaulettes can be breed in captivity, so I assume they are breed for the trade. But it's on the purchaser to find out the source and of cause provide a proper habitation.

[@keithfaulkner6319]

@Qagmez 7668 so who said epaulette sharks are endangered? Are they?

[@markdombrovan8849]

A great video as always

[@mini5701]

great video as always!

[@tanyadawn2217]

Great video! Thank you!

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

I subscribed because you were recommended

[@yohaan9]

Always a treat to watch your content. It's highly informative and interesting

[@Nobody-df4is]

6:46 Yes, I also imagine something similar must have happened with the first land animals. So we see here an excellent example of the moon as one of the driving forces in evolution. I find it fascinating how aquatic animals can evolve into land animals and then from land back to aquatic.

[@GeneralOink]

Some evidence shows that lungs developed first and swim bladders are modified lungs

[@astick5249]

@Qagmez 7668 lungs don't necessarily mean that the fish needs to go on land. Its just a method to get more oxygen: the fish can just swim up and gulp some air any time it needs it.

[@marizuokereke7347]

So good! Thank you!

[@henriquedearruda8902]

Now that is a smart shark.

[@ArleneDKatz]

Thank you

[@kafiyo7928]

Interesting. I might get to see one someday.

[@godzillalivesinwyoming4742]

What species is that at 5:00?

[@celsient]

i love them !!!!!! one of my new favourite animals

[@pacotaco1246]

This video is deep lore for Robert Benfer's Shark Town music video, prove me wrong.

[@MichelZongo-q3r]

I love this cool and nice video

[@WillaLamour]

Wow! They move like lizards!

[@Funkiotologist]

Caught a blacktip yesterday! Love your videos so much, I’m at the beach and this is very thematic at the moment 😂

[@indyreno2933]

Can you do a video on the marine iguana evolution?

[@thefisherking78]

What beautiful little sharks 😍

[@Leatherargento]

There's something so kind of cute about the way the shark crawls on four rounded fins, slowly and softly.

[@menselv7142]

sounds like a great start to a species of sea-crocodile like sharks. Laying in wait near rocky shores to ambush an unsuspecting seal or something. Or maybe instead of pulling pray into water like a crocodile it'll kill by pulling pray out of water.

[@equinoxomega3600]

One minor thing that bothers me about this video: you mention the tide going out at night, but the tide can go out and come at any time of day and does this twice per day, as it is induced by the position of moon and not the sun.

[@Dragrath1]

Yeah its not the only mistake as far as I can tell he also appears to have gotten the order of evolution regarding lungs/swim bladders off since the ancestor of boney fish had the ability to do both functions and ray finned fish lost the ability to use it as lungs rather than the converse. After all a deep sea fish like a Coelacanth wouldn't have a similar need to evolve to breathe air www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5717702/ and developmentally ray finned fish start out with their swim bladders attached to gut by the pneumatic duct with some early diverging ray finned fish like Bowfin maintaining this function

[@astick5249]

I think he meant *if* the tide goes out at night

[@quitlife9279]

@@astick5249 yeah, it is under the context of hypoxia, in the day there can still be oxygen in the rock pools due to photosynthesis, but the environment becomes hypoxic at night.

[@lassebirkhenriksen]

Maybe also a video on eels

[@riohudson9612]

while I do agree that sharks may never be able to evolve into air-breathing animals, I still very much see this as the beginning of new tetrapodal animals. This unique niche of crawling from one pool on the coasts to the next, if given time, opportunity, and maybe some selective breeding, the epaulette shark could easily develop a more extreme version of its already special lifestyle. Similar to Hyneria of the Devonian age, Epaulette sharks could develop stronger and more powerful fins with which to better crawl on land, not as a way of colonizing land, but as a hunting tactic. When prey like crabs or eels escape onto land, the Epaulette shark could still follow them with its better adapted leg-fins, allowing it to more efficiently catch prey and then haul it back into safer. oxygen-rich water before it's time on land runs out. Combined with some more adaptations for better oxygen efficiency, the Epaulette could go from a "local" apex predator into an actual apex predator, spending its three or more hours of time on land sprinting from one pool to the next to snatch up prey before darting back into deeper waters.

[@erichtomanek4739]

I wonder if the big spot above the pectoral fins will evolve to resemble an eye? Rather than evolving lungs, some epualette sharks may happen to have stronger, firmer, stiffer gill filaments that are less likely to collapse out of water. In the fullness of time and natural selection, these may evolve into two "Gillungs", so they can breathe equally well in seawater and air.

[@christopherdwane2844]

That's essentually what land crabs already do to breathe on land

[@marcoasturias8520]

@@christopherdwane2844 as always, crabs are peak performance

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

New Moth Light Media on my birthday? Yeeeeeeees!

[@robertwhelan3553]

Could you do an evolutionary history of catfish?

[@Zach-ku6eu]

When are you going to finally compile a playlist?!

[@aureliamillner592]

would the evolution of more stiff Gill arches that don't collapse out of the water help them breath just a little better? If so, then that might be the next evolutionary step to stretch the time they have to skip from pool to pool.

[@beastmaster0934]

These things could evolve into salamander sharks or something. With little legs with tiny webbed toes.

[@johanliebert6785]

Please add english subtitles for non-native watchers. Thank you!

[@WanderTheNomad]

The automated captions are 99% accurate. Most of the mistakes I've seen are about "Epaullete". The rest are very occasionally like mistaking "or" for "all" and "in" and "and", but those seem pretty easy to correct in your head. The only slightly big mistakes I've seen is mistaking "generally" with "genuinely" and "tetrapod" with "tetrabors" or "tetrabots" or "mud skippers" with "mod skippers"

[@Steven-se4gd]

2:22 almost like being the Aurora Borealis but localized entirely within your kitchen

[@ramsaykersh3532]

Excellent video, had no idea about this shark! Although I was under the impression that lungs were ancestral to swim bladders (i.e. lungs evolved from the swim bladder)

[@Dragrath1]

This is what I have always heard and read in the literature, I'm curious what his source is as it contradicts all the evidence I have read about gene expression embryonic development phylogenetic evidence and when possible fossils etc. all strongly suggests that lungs were an ancestral function and that ray finned fish lost their ability to use their lungs as anything other than a swim bladder at some point during the Carboniferous. Of course the distinction between lungs and swim bladder may be somewhat arbitrary as the organ most likely served both purposes within the ancestors of bony fish. While function came first we will probably never know but ray finned fish have definitely lost the ability to use their swim bladders as lungs rather than multiple independent lineages of fish doing the reverse

[@MagereHein]

@@Dragrath1 Indeed. In his essay “Full of Hot Air” (easily found online) author Stephen Jay Gould explains that the idea that lungs evolved from swim bladders was proposed by Darwin himself, but that lungs were the ancestral condition.

[@MrFossil367ab45gfyth]

Maybe one day these sharks may walk on land. Anything is possible.

[@a.r.h9919]

Interesting how vertebrates while colonizing land can come with different ways based on their biologies to solve the challenges of being in a new environment and the differences like how the earliest tetrapods and how epaulette shark remove oxygen to parts of their brain

[@anyascelticcreations]

I actually think they're really cute. Though, I'm very sure I would still be scared if I saw one swimming in the water with me.

[@sampagano205]

I doubt you'd actually be that scared, they're very small. A 3 foot long one is huge.

[@anyascelticcreations]

@@sampagano205 To be honest, I'd be scared of a 3 foot fish of any kind. Lol. I used to dream that I was fishing and a fish of that size pulled me in the water to attack me. Lol. I'm scared of very little in the woods. But the water is a different story. I guess I'm just a terrestrial girl.

[@WHATTHEHELL666]

I had a toy that was shaped like 1 of these that came in a set of toys shaped like marine life as a kid thanks for clearing up just what it is./g /srs

[@crazy_mind-ox8if]

I imagine over time the fins will continue to evolve for better walking. Maybe even converging toward some kind of salamander shark?

[@urbnctrl]

It sometimes already walks more than it swims it is so interesting it literally moves like a salamander at times

[@derin3440]

what is the name of the long and thin fish at 2:23

[@waitWAID]

weren't swim bladders modified lungs instead?

[@06racing]

We need to get some and try and breed them to become land sharks. Sharknado: Ride of the Land Sharks.

[@SchnookieC]

They had one of these for sale at the fish shop near my house, if I had the tank and the money, oml what a cool animal it would be to keep

[@Pumpskinable]

4:24 what is self-rite?

[@gula_rata]

Give these sharks a few more million years and there might be land-only sharks running around.

[@oreji3987]

Give them a few million years and they'rr definitely going to become some crazy looking creatures

[@dplocksmith91]

This is probably how tetrapods evolved. The Epaulette Shark is living in a similar manner to Tiktaalik, which paleontologists theorize is the first tetropodomorph to move on land

[@BladeWolfK]

What is the soundtrack name used in this video?

[@Bradley_UA]

I think the biggest issue modern sharks would have with evolving into a land animal is the fact that there are already plenty of anymals on land, and they are better suited for land than the shark. But the first tetrapods didn't have any competition on land, or at least not significant.

[@huusgaard4289]

Although at the time of this comment, your video hasn't done too welll, I like it a lot. Never seen such a curious creature. I think I've found my new favourite shark^^

[@heatherpearce6205]

I've felt for a while now that KZbin needs a button, other than the thumbs up button, for videos that are EXEMPLARY like this one! I've heard of this shark, but didn't know ANY of the details you explained and you kept it not only interesting but VERY ENTERTAINING! GREAT JOB my friend, can't wait for your next video❣🥰