Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Shark Embryos That Eat Their Siblings in the Womb | Smartest Year Ever (June 19, 2025)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Shark Embryos That Eat Their Siblings in the Womb | Smartest Year Ever (June 19, 2025)
It’s Weird Animals Week on Smartest Year Ever, and today, Gordy dives into one of the most unbelievable stories in the animal kingdom.
You’ve heard of sibling rivalry—but what if it started before you were even born?
Inside the womb of a sand tiger shark, something wild happens. This isn’t a nursery. It’s an arena. And survival means developing early, growing teeth fast, and doing whatever it takes to be the last one standing. Adelphophogy, oophagy, all of it!
This episode explores a brutal evolutionary strategy you truly have to hear to believe—complete with half-sibling warfare, womb-gladiators, and the most savage form of natural selection on Earth.
One of the most shocking facts in marine biology—and yes, it’s 100% real.
Watch until the end to find out how this strategy might actually make shark moms… better parents?
Sources:
Chapman, D. D., Prodöhl, P. A., Gelsleichter, J., Manire, C. A., & Shivji, M. S. (2004). Evidence of multiple paternity and sperm storage in the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Molecular Ecology, 13(2), 1057–1065.
Tomita, T., Toda, M., & Motomura, H. (2016). Functional morphology of feeding in fetal sand tiger sharks. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 117(3), 476–488.
Hamlett, W. C. (Ed.). (1999). Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Aquarium of the Pacific. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark Research Archive.
Gilmore, R. G., Dodrill, J. W., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Reproduction and embryonic development of the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 74(3-4), 361–377.
Smithsonian Ocean Portal. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark.
#AnimalFacts #SharkEmbryos #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #sandtigersharks #sharks Music thanks to Zapsplat.
View all episodes
By GordyIt’s Weird Animals Week on Smartest Year Ever, and today, Gordy dives into one of the most unbelievable stories in the animal kingdom.
You’ve heard of sibling rivalry—but what if it started before you were even born?
Inside the womb of a sand tiger shark, something wild happens. This isn’t a nursery. It’s an arena. And survival means developing early, growing teeth fast, and doing whatever it takes to be the last one standing. Adelphophogy, oophagy, all of it!
This episode explores a brutal evolutionary strategy you truly have to hear to believe—complete with half-sibling warfare, womb-gladiators, and the most savage form of natural selection on Earth.
One of the most shocking facts in marine biology—and yes, it’s 100% real.
Watch until the end to find out how this strategy might actually make shark moms… better parents?
Sources:
Chapman, D. D., Prodöhl, P. A., Gelsleichter, J., Manire, C. A., & Shivji, M. S. (2004). Evidence of multiple paternity and sperm storage in the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Molecular Ecology, 13(2), 1057–1065.
Tomita, T., Toda, M., & Motomura, H. (2016). Functional morphology of feeding in fetal sand tiger sharks. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 117(3), 476–488.
Hamlett, W. C. (Ed.). (1999). Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Aquarium of the Pacific. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark Research Archive.
Gilmore, R. G., Dodrill, J. W., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Reproduction and embryonic development of the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 74(3-4), 361–377.
Smithsonian Ocean Portal. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark.
#AnimalFacts #SharkEmbryos #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #sandtigersharks #sharks Music thanks to Zapsplat.