Wired.com reports that scientists studied the reactions of baby bamboo sharks – creatures found in the western Pacific Ocean that seem to be very similar to our local shysharks – while they were still inside their egg cases. By removing the opaque outer layer of the egg cases and generating an electrical field nearby similar to to the signal that would be felt from an approaching predator, scientists were able to observe whether the baby sharks reacted to the danger or not.
The baby sharks froze and wrapped their tails around their bodies, some of them holding this position for a minute or more. With repeated exposure to the electric field the baby sharks’ response became shorter and weaker, indicating that they were figuring out that the perceived danger was not real.
Read the article here.
