🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Only a handful of vertebrate species are known to have gestation periods approaching this length.
Scientific estimates place the frilled shark’s gestation period at up to 42 months, one of the longest known among vertebrates. Slow metabolic rates in cold, deep water contribute to extended embryonic development.
💥 Impact (click to read)
A reproductive cycle stretching beyond three years drastically limits how often females can produce offspring. In evolutionary terms, that is a high-risk strategy in an environment already low in population density.
Such extreme developmental timelines suggest that deep-sea stability has historically buffered the species from rapid ecological upheaval. However, modern industrial fishing may disrupt a reproductive rhythm that evolved over tens of millions of years.
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