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A collection of cruel weapons made of shark teeth reveals that two species of shark vanished from the Reef of Kiribati before scientist even noticed the metal money were there .
Until about 130 yr ago , residents of the Gilbert Islands , which make up much of the Republic of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean , used teeth fromdusky sharks(Carcharhinus obscrus ) and spotfin sharks ( Carcharhinus sorrah ) to make steel , gig , daggers and other horrific weapons . Today , spotfin sharks can be establish near Australia and Indonesia , and twilight sharks can be spotted near Fiji ― but neither plies the waters around Kiribati .
A Gilbert Islands shark tooth weapon in the collections of Chicago’s Field Museum.
" We ’re losing species before we even know that they existed , " said discipline investigator Joshua Drew , an ichthyologist at Columbia University . " That just resonate with me as basically tragic . "
Toothy weapons
Sharkshave long been a major part of the Gilbert Islands ’ culture , as the animals played a role in Kiribati myths and rituals , Drew told LiveScience . The first European visitors to the islands in the previous 1700s noted the native dweller ’ craftsmanship of weapons made of shark tooth . Weapon - makers would practice tiny holes in the teeth and secure them to wooden handles using coconut fibers and human hair . The issue were frighten away : all sharp points and serrated position . [ icon Gallery : astonishing Great White Sharks ]
Gilbert Islands weapon-makers affixed shark teeth to wood handles with coconut fibers and human hair.
Drew and his colleagues were looking for ways to link up sharks into their civilization in ordering to get people mad about conservation . They were " poke around " in the anthropology collections of the Field Museum of Natural chronicle in Chicago , when museum anthropologist Christopher Philipp , also one of the study authors , asked if they ’d like to see some shark - tooth weapon .
" Anytime anybody asks you that question , your lifelike response is ' Yeah ! ' " Drew said . " They ’re coolheaded . "
The weapons were scientifically nerveless , too . condition , serration radiation pattern and other features of shark teeth were enough for investigator to place the species . That meant Drew and his colleagues could see out what sort of shark the people of the Gilbert Islands were catching before scientific expeditions to the atolls were ever launched .
disappear species
Using field of force guide and the museum ’s collections ofshark jaws , the researchers key teeth from eight species of shark on 122 weapons and teeth aggregation from the Gilbert Islands . The most common of those species was the grizzly bear shark ( C. albimarginatus ) , whose tooth graced 34 weapons . Gilbert Islands weapon - Maker also used teeth from slick sharks , pelagic whitetip sharks , Panthera tigris shark , down in the mouth shark and hammerheads .
Most surprising to scientist , however , was the uncovering of dusky and spotfin shark ' teeth , as no scientist has ever recorded those sharks in Gilbert Islands reefs . It ’s unlikely that these two commercially valuable species would have been overlooked , the research worker compose in a work published today ( April 3)in the journal PLOS ONE , so it seems that the sharks but vanished before anyone commence taking a nosecount .
" Probably , they were fished out , " Drew say . Extensive shark - finning operation started in the region by the early 1900s , and in 1950 alone , fisherman pulled almost 7,716 pounds ( 3,500 kilo ) of shark fins ( and only five ) from Gilbert Island waters . ( Scientists now count on that100 million sharksare stamp out worldwide each year . )
The findings underscore the connectedness between Gilbert Islanders and sharks , Drew said . Kiribati has been a humans leader in maritime conservation , he say , adding that he hopes the findings will promote more of that work . The uncovering of previously unknown sharks in the domain also pushes conservationists not to " set the bar too low " for Gilbert Islands reefs , Drew said , give that at one point , they indorse more biodiversity than they do today .
" We should n’t mob up and call it a day because we have two species of sharks there , " Drew said . " We can do well . "
