XKCD did a comic (1747) about spider webs not fossilizing. It's really cool (and sad) to think of all the cool structures and habits of animals we'll never get to see simply because they didn't fossilize.
No matter if you absolutely love paleontology, are totally indifferent to it, or absolutely hate it( why would you?) , this video's title and thumbnail have got to intrigue you
It would be really cool to see a series on, “inferred species.” Like, species we don’t have any evidence for, but we know could answer some missing link questions like, splitting the two ways rays traverse the water.
I literally yesterday was thinking about how I would love you doing a video on the evolution of rays. This is definitely close enough to satisfy that need. Great work!
Flappy filter feeding sharks are cool, but what about that filter feeding anomalocarid that started as a speculative artwork piece then turned out to be real? Nature pulled the ol' bamboozle with that one.
I don't know if you're making a joke that I don't believe is a joke or whether you misinterpreted what has happened? He said there were groups known by their teeth only. Thus their body form is unknown. To be more scientifically correct he thus put up the groups name only rather than a possibility misleading image. Great channel.
@@Paul_Rohde Helicoprion has been reconstructed many times, like all the other reconstructions he has ever edited into an episode. All reconstructions are best guesses. He doesn't avoid showing pictures just because they're artists' best attempts at renders and not an actual photograph.
@@nihilusdirus Whether you're right or wrong that Helicoprion has been reconstructed many times is a bit beside the point as Moth Light Media believes/states they (or whole lineages) are only known by their teeth, and his video is the topic here. (Reconstructions from known pieces are a bit different to full fantasy renditions too.) You may right, but I thought it was neat he used the word to exemplify that it is unknown. Out of all the videos he's made, he's just randomly done this mistake in this video at this particular point, whilst he's stating whole lineages are unknown but for their teeth? A bit of a coincidence? Not to mention the time it takes to make these things, needing to shuttle/jog through the edit all the time to get it right. If he comes out and says it was an editing mistake, that would make me go wow. What a coincidence! Cheers.
2:20 = note that modern filter feeding sharks (whale, basking & megamouth, even manta rays as well) all have numerous teeth, so it would be unusual if Aquilolamna truly was edentulous.
The thing that immediately jumps out to me as an aerospace engineer that’s weird is that having fins for lift situated that far forward on its body would be hydrodynamically unstable because the center of lift will be ahead of the shark’s center of gravity if the wings are just held out flat for lift. To me, this indicates they must be used for propulsion.
What an informative and entertaining video!! Love all your content. You said this was discovered 10 years ago and only described a few weeks ago? Is that typically how stuff works within paleontology, time wise from discovery to identification/taxonomy?
I'm gonna guess it's not uncommon? Often when fossils are found, it's a small part of a whole. That mummified dinosaur that I think was maybe an Ankylosaur took years of very delicate work to be freed from the surrounding rock. And a paleontologist might have an idea of what it is, but then you gotta round up some scientists and compare it to the other fossils. Analyze it, run tests if necessary, describe it, and make a case for why it's that one essentially. And then those studies may have to make revisions before they're published.
The unbelievable amount of species lost forever to history because they weren’t conducive to fossilizing, or are buried miles beneath the ground, or are under the ocean floor, or were rare for their time, and so on… I want to see them all…
And this is why I wish time-travel were possible, so that we could study how alien our world was millions of years ago. Probablt would need some kind of air supply, though...
Yes! Great video! Do more about prehistoric fish, not just sharks. I feel like prehistoric fish don’t get too much love, when they were some of the coolest animals to ever have swam our oceans
Since rays and mantas are related to sharks, might this be more of a ray or manta than a shark? Especially as it seemed to be a filter feeder, having no teeth, than a flesh-eater like most sharks.
Powerful large tail, wide 'wingspan'...slim body.....possibly glide capabilities? I wonder if it could create enough speed to 'launch' itself out of the water for transportation, or more likely as a defense mechanism to evade large predators.... that'd be so cool
I looked at the sources provided, saw their dates, and knew this wasn’t an April fools day prank, I was pointing out the bad idea of posting this on that day. Mainly cause it seems so perfect, flying sharks? Perfect April fools day prank title
My theory is that aquilolamna mainly used it's large pectoral fin to swin slowly through the water when it wasn't in any danger/feeding and used it's shark like tail to swim away quickly from predetors. This explains why it still possessed that functional tail.
Two reasons. The remarkable preservation is very rare, and the body shape is unlike any other species known so far. A fossil of this quality of a known species would have been an important find, but one that shows an animal that's unique and hitherto unimagined is extraordinary.
It is likely that they just ended up fossilized at the same time by chance instead of ending up like that because Aquilolamna actually hunted the little guy
On second thoughts, the long fins may not have been for locomotion at all. They may have been extended to house sensitive electroreceptors, similar to why hammerhead sharks have a weird shaped head.
DRINKING GAME!!! Take a sip of your drink when there is: - a time lineage - a genetic tree - a new illustration - a size comparison Take a shot when: - the narrator says "however"
I don't know if you're making a joke that went over my head (or I just didn't find funny), or whether you weren't listening. He said there were groups known by their teeth only. Thus their body form is unknown. To be more scientifically correct he thus put up the groups name only rather than a possibility misleading image. Great channel.
@@Paul_Rohde If that were the case, he would have used a picture of the teeth. Look at the video at the time I mentioned, he has the word "helicoprion" in the bottom left just like the other reference images, but he also has the word in the middle of the screen. This makes me think it was an "insert here" placeholder in editing for until he found a good image to use, but then forgot to insert the image in the final version.
@@maddockemerson4603 You may be correct. It just seemed to me he had the word "up in lights" (in addition to the subtitle) to exemplify that Helicoprion/ the whole lineage is unknown other than their classification from teeth. And yes, showing the teeth would have been a nice touch. However, out of all the videos he's made, he's just randomly done this mistake in this video at this particular point, whilst he's stating whole lineages are unknown? A bit of a coincidence? Not to mention the time it takes to make these things, needing to shuttle/jog through the edit all the time to get it right. If he comes out and says it was an editing mistake, that would make me go wow. What a neat coincidence! Cheers.
Heya, just so you know as someone who’s also butchered this particular word - cartilaginous is pronounced as ‘KAR-TILL-AJ-IN-OOS’ not as ‘KAR-TILL-IJ-IN-OOS’ - other than that, great and interesting video
i love archeologists and paleontologists and shit. they see a tiny bone from the feet of some animal from 400 quadrillion years and tell you in detail how that bone likely comes from the metatarsal of the feet of an ancient mollusc that walked on land but had evolved to use their feet for eating since it gave them the evolutionary advantage of leaving their hands free to use as feet.
Like a fantastical version of the flying fish? Apparently they're record for being above water is 45 seconds. It'd be fun to exaggerate the elevation they can reach and give them air limits closer to marine mammals, even the smaller ones like seals.
@@BonaparteBardithion My sister-in-law worked on a research ship off the coast of Africa and she talked about flying fish landing on the deck of the boat.
think of all the sharks we don't know about just because they didn't fossilize 0.0
Not to mention all the non-shark creatures for the same reason.
Or even the animals that did fossilize, but they will forever be at the bottom of the ocean buried under sediment
XKCD did a comic (1747) about spider webs not fossilizing. It's really cool (and sad) to think of all the cool structures and habits of animals we'll never get to see simply because they didn't fossilize.
@@Andruth34 quite sad, isn't it, that we'll only have guesswork to figure out how they might have lived, fed & reproduced?
yeah like Greg
I am SO GLAD this is not an April's Fool vid
I was fearing that ever since I read the title.
That's exactly what they want you to think.
Its almost not April anymore and so hopefully that hell on earth is finished.
Bob
It's not April.
No matter if you absolutely love paleontology, are totally indifferent to it, or absolutely hate it( why would you?) , this video's title and thumbnail have got to intrigue you
We're fooled into thinking that this is April Fool video.🤣
Not me, saw this shark on other channels like Ben Thomas and Henry the Paleo Guy this past week
@@matthewwelsh294 good for you bro
@@matthewwelsh294 thx for sharing. Intend to check it out.
This channel deserves 10x the amount of subscribers
True
True
True
Love your profile pic. The crazy WoW dwarf. Had the same one recently on steam
Ture
I remember reading the article on this, I woke up and was just like "what the fuh?"
You are my top paleontology channel, it's incredible how often you put out quality videos! I hope you get the recognition you deserve 💗
This Ben G, and Trey are the best paleo channels imo.
@@fmlAllthetime yes, the holy trinity
It would be really cool to see a series on, “inferred species.” Like, species we don’t have any evidence for, but we know could answer some missing link questions like, splitting the two ways rays traverse the water.
I literally yesterday was thinking about how I would love you doing a video on the evolution of rays. This is definitely close enough to satisfy that need. Great work!
YEAH, LIKE WE'D BELIEVE THIS, COME ON, WE KNOW IT'S APRIL FOOLS DAY
Watch the whole video to understand the truth about how fools evolve from the Cretaceous period
Please don't make me more nervous than I already am
You don't believe the shark is real?
Well evolution has produced weirder creatures...
lol
Flappy filter feeding sharks are cool, but what about that filter feeding anomalocarid that started as a speculative artwork piece then turned out to be real? Nature pulled the ol' bamboozle with that one.
Bamboozle. Love that word hahaha.
I know 2:54 had to have just been an editing mishap but I lol’d so hard at HELICOPRION floating in the ocean lmao
I don't know if you're making a joke that I don't believe is a joke or whether you misinterpreted what has happened? He said there were groups known by their teeth only. Thus their body form is unknown. To be more scientifically correct he thus put up the groups name only rather than a possibility misleading image. Great channel.
@@Paul_Rohde Helicoprion has been reconstructed many times, like all the other reconstructions he has ever edited into an episode. All reconstructions are best guesses. He doesn't avoid showing pictures just because they're artists' best attempts at renders and not an actual photograph.
@@nihilusdirus Whether you're right or wrong that Helicoprion has been reconstructed many times is a bit beside the point as Moth Light Media believes/states they (or whole lineages) are only known by their teeth, and his video is the topic here. (Reconstructions from known pieces are a bit different to full fantasy renditions too.) You may right, but I thought it was neat he used the word to exemplify that it is unknown. Out of all the videos he's made, he's just randomly done this mistake in this video at this particular point, whilst he's stating whole lineages are unknown but for their teeth? A bit of a coincidence? Not to mention the time it takes to make these things, needing to shuttle/jog through the edit all the time to get it right. If he comes out and says it was an editing mistake, that would make me go wow. What a coincidence! Cheers.
@@Paul_Rohde lmao
My first thought were that they were some kind of missing link between sharks and rays...
It blows my mind how quickly you can make these high quality videos!
I knew this was an April's fool joke! On 2:54 there was supposed to be a picture of helicoprion but it's just text. It was a long play but you got me.
Helicoprion are real.
@@stscallop3254 wat
@@lifdohop they are real mate, and are a sight to see
What?
Kinda seems like a link between the closely related sharks and rays. Especially since there doesn't seem to be evidence of a dorsal fin.
600 likes 0 dislikes! Thats how you know you are an amazing content producer :) thanks for the video!
Too soon... 20 creationists already got here
The only difference between flying and swimming is the medium and I think thats beautiful
“...The strangest species of shark called aquilolamna”
Helicoprion: am I a joke to you?
I also would feel even bad for helicoprion and Cladoselachys
But _Helicoprion_ was actually a member of Holocephali instead of Elasmobranchii. So... not really a shark.
2:20 = note that modern filter feeding sharks (whale, basking & megamouth, even manta rays as well) all have numerous teeth, so it would be unusual if Aquilolamna truly was edentulous.
Rays evolved in the jurassic 140 Mya...
Meanwhile the chart in the background shows the jurassic endet 145 Mya ;)
If I could only watch 10 yet channels for the rest of my life, this would be one of them
could we get videos about each era of pre-historic history? and perhaps extinction events? thatd be cool i think
The thing that immediately jumps out to me as an aerospace engineer that’s weird is that having fins for lift situated that far forward on its body would be hydrodynamically unstable because the center of lift will be ahead of the shark’s center of gravity if the wings are just held out flat for lift. To me, this indicates they must be used for propulsion.
So Sharknado was in fact a series of documentaries? Who knew? 🌬🦈🌪
God: *let's make shark fly*
Moth Light Media: *I have a great idea for an April Fool's video.*
Is it possible that these fish are ancestors of today’s rays? It seems like there’s a lot of comparisons between the two moreso than sharks.
The crazy thing is that there were already rays at that time. These things are totally convergent
Best brief about this weirdo, thank you Mothman.
What an informative and entertaining video!! Love all your content. You said this was discovered 10 years ago and only described a few weeks ago? Is that typically how stuff works within paleontology, time wise from discovery to identification/taxonomy?
I'm gonna guess it's not uncommon? Often when fossils are found, it's a small part of a whole. That mummified dinosaur that I think was maybe an Ankylosaur took years of very delicate work to be freed from the surrounding rock. And a paleontologist might have an idea of what it is, but then you gotta round up some scientists and compare it to the other fossils. Analyze it, run tests if necessary, describe it, and make a case for why it's that one essentially. And then those studies may have to make revisions before they're published.
I don't know why but these videos are very satisfying to watch
The real fools were us, the people who thought this animal was fake because it was April fools day.
The truth is this shark from the screenshot was Aquilolamna, a newly discovered "bat winged shark"
The unbelievable amount of species lost forever to history because they weren’t conducive to fossilizing, or are buried miles beneath the ground, or are under the ocean floor, or were rare for their time, and so on… I want to see them all…
Algorithm comment
Ray is a flat made shark, that's what I learned from "The Ancestor's Tale"!
It’s interesting to see how merged the Ray and shark were. They look super cool
Holy crap can we talk about that giant fish
I know this isn't an April fool's joke is because I just watched another video about this shark. 😉
I watched two yesterday
I was scared for a sec about april fools
I watched two other videos yesterday about this shark from similar TH-camrs!!
And this is why I wish time-travel were possible, so that we could study how alien our world was millions of years ago. Probablt would need some kind of air supply, though...
Thanks alot that was exceptionally interesting. I love the concise and coherent flow of information 👍🏻
So glad the ambience is back. Love the videos!
Yes! Great video! Do more about prehistoric fish, not just sharks. I feel like prehistoric fish don’t get too much love, when they were some of the coolest animals to ever have swam our oceans
Since rays and mantas are related to sharks, might this be more of a ray or manta than a shark? Especially as it seemed to be a filter feeder, having no teeth, than a flesh-eater like most sharks.
Could the fins be used to direct plankton, like a ray?
Powerful large tail, wide 'wingspan'...slim body.....possibly glide capabilities? I wonder if it could create enough speed to 'launch' itself out of the water for transportation, or more likely as a defense mechanism to evade large predators.... that'd be so cool
It would be so cool if this was real! Too bad it’s April fools day
They were real
@@matthewwelsh294 woosh
I looked at the sources provided, saw their dates, and knew this wasn’t an April fools day prank, I was pointing out the bad idea of posting this on that day. Mainly cause it seems so perfect, flying sharks? Perfect April fools day prank title
@@frenchyf4327 it’s like the real April fools joke was making people think it was fake
how did some "soft" fossils like this get so well-perserved?
My theory is that aquilolamna mainly used it's large pectoral fin to swin slowly through the water when it wasn't in any danger/feeding and used it's shark like tail to swim away quickly from predetors. This explains why it still possessed that functional tail.
looks like something out of james cameron movie
it seem to be something between a sting ray and a carpet shark.
The April fools prank is that you skipped a week
Are you Morning Light Mountain?
- *we will never see this shark in real life*
why live
Love the videos, thanks for the information man!
Incredible content as always
what would happen if the largest shark ever lived meets the smallest shark ever lived?
Megalodon probably wouldn't even see and feel a thing.
That shits a ray. Trust me. I'm a professional. Not a professional paleontologist or biologist. A professional ray.
why is every paleo youtuber so exited about this new shark
It looks like a flying shark that's why lol
Two reasons. The remarkable preservation is very rare, and the body shape is unlike any other species known so far. A fossil of this quality of a known species would have been an important find, but one that shows an animal that's unique and hitherto unimagined is extraordinary.
It looks like an oversized ray
Its like it couldnt decide between being a shark or ray so thought fuck it and became both
Never in my life have i clicked video this quickly.
@@JohnyG29 no, but i ussualy dont click it the moment i see its from certain youtuber, in this case mothlightmedia
But how would their gills work when they were surrounded by all that “wing” muscle?
You, 3Blue1Brown and NORTH 02 upload in the same day
...
**grabs popcorn**
This is going to be a good day!
"Aquila" is "Eagle" is Latin/Italian
but what does "Lamna" mean?
Im gonna guess its "Shark" but IDK
Your Chanel is so underated you deserve way more subs
DLC animals be like:
God I want a video on Leedsichthys
I still think the ironing board shark is the funkiest of the lot. Rays have wings so not so unique to me.
Come on, sharks with wings? One step closer to Sharknado
"when sharks flew through the Ocean" I think you mean swim. They still do.
Unearthed fossils have to be described sooner. A mechanism should be introduced.
At first I just wonder if the 'eagle shark' main character is related to modern stingrays somehow.
Fun Fact: Sharks have been around longer than Saturn’s Rings
Helicoprion... describing the word Helicoprion.. hm.
Theirs also a prehistoric bony fish in the skeleton
It is likely that they just ended up fossilized at the same time by chance instead of ending up like that because Aquilolamna actually hunted the little guy
Looks more like a Ray than a Shark to me.
shark
It was a partially decomposed basking shark
if they are macrosharks what are the microsharks?
Perhaps two ways of locomotion for different habitat/seasonal behaviour.
On second thoughts, the long fins may not have been for locomotion at all. They may have been extended to house sensitive electroreceptors, similar to why hammerhead sharks have a weird shaped head.
I know what extinct animals left to be found...all of them...lol
So a shark that filled the manta ray niche.
What's so bizarre about it?
Minecraft phantom don't exists and it can't hurt you!
Minecraft phantom:
DRINKING GAME!!!
Take a sip of your drink when there is:
- a time lineage
- a genetic tree
- a new illustration
- a size comparison
Take a shot when:
- the narrator says "however"
This thing is strait up a phantom from minecraft you cant fool me
Kinda looks like a ray to me tho
Pog
2:55 You seem to have neglected to use an image of helicoprion here and left the placeholder in editing.
I don't know if you're making a joke that went over my head (or I just didn't find funny), or whether you weren't listening. He said there were groups known by their teeth only. Thus their body form is unknown. To be more scientifically correct he thus put up the groups name only rather than a possibility misleading image. Great channel.
@@Paul_Rohde If that were the case, he would have used a picture of the teeth. Look at the video at the time I mentioned, he has the word "helicoprion" in the bottom left just like the other reference images, but he also has the word in the middle of the screen. This makes me think it was an "insert here" placeholder in editing for until he found a good image to use, but then forgot to insert the image in the final version.
@@maddockemerson4603 You may be correct. It just seemed to me he had the word "up in lights" (in addition to the subtitle) to exemplify that Helicoprion/ the whole lineage is unknown other than their classification from teeth. And yes, showing the teeth would have been a nice touch. However, out of all the videos he's made, he's just randomly done this mistake in this video at this particular point, whilst he's stating whole lineages are unknown? A bit of a coincidence? Not to mention the time it takes to make these things, needing to shuttle/jog through the edit all the time to get it right. If he comes out and says it was an editing mistake, that would make me go wow. What a neat coincidence! Cheers.
What if it was actually a bony fish just way weird
So, what's up about everyone making videos on eagle sharks?
Excellent video!
It looks like a shark is trying to be a manta ray!
Haha Shark go F L O A T
Heya, just so you know as someone who’s also butchered this particular word - cartilaginous is pronounced as ‘KAR-TILL-AJ-IN-OOS’ not as ‘KAR-TILL-IJ-IN-OOS’ - other than that, great and interesting video
i love archeologists and paleontologists and shit. they see a tiny bone from the feet of some animal from 400 quadrillion years and tell you in detail how that bone likely comes from the metatarsal of the feet of an ancient mollusc that walked on land but had evolved to use their feet for eating since it gave them the evolutionary advantage of leaving their hands free to use as feet.
Well, we've come a long long way since calling a part of a leg bone a scrotum.
I'm still wondering, what is the name of the background music you're using?
since rays are closely related to sharks maybe this is the "gap" between the two? This is just conjecture since i have no formal education
Comment to get my boy some algorithm
It looks like the shark version of the flying fish so maybe it could fly out of the water for short periods to escape predators.
Imagine that a fish is discovered that can fly and must land for me in water in order to breathe
Like a fantastical version of the flying fish? Apparently they're record for being above water is 45 seconds. It'd be fun to exaggerate the elevation they can reach and give them air limits closer to marine mammals, even the smaller ones like seals.
@@BonaparteBardithion like sires The Future Is Wild
@@BonaparteBardithion My sister-in-law worked on a research ship off the coast of Africa and she talked about flying fish landing on the deck of the boat.
Sharks have bone broth madness