Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea Came from Australia

 

The great white sharks in Mediterranean Sea probably came from the ocean around Australia almost 500,000 years ago.  Researchers have found out that some females may have got themselves lost during the Ice Age.

Up to now it was thought that Mediterranean sharks were related to sharks in the Atlantic Ocean. Now we know that they have the same features that can also be found in sharks around Australia and the South Sea. During the Ice Ages the climate all over the world changed dramatically. Ocean currents changed with it and probably led the fish into different areas. The sharks followed the warm currents   that may have changed northward during this period.

Experts think the sharks might have come up the western coast of Africa and when the water started to get colder they turned east through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Female sharks always return to the place where they leave their eggs. Even if only a few female   sharks got lost in the area it may have been enough to create a whole species there.

Scientists think that many other migrations may have taken place during the Ice Ages, when changes in climate and ocean currents brought species to area where they now live.

 

 

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Words

  • create   = make; start something new
  • current   = a permanent movement of warm water in an ocean, river or lake
  • feature   = a part that is interesting special or typical of an animal
  • female   = about a woman
  • it was thought   = people thought that
  • Mediterranean Sea   = the sea between Europe and Africa
  • migration   = birds and animals travel regularly from one part of the world to another
  • related   = connected in some way
  • researcher   = a person who studies new facts in a special field
  • species   = group of animals or plants that are like each other
  • Strait of Gibraltar   =  place between Spain and Morocco where Africa and Europe are separated by only a few kilometers of water