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Learn more about 'sharkitecture' and how a shark's strong and flexible cartilage could help create advanced materials for every day use.

FAU researchers have mapped the internal structure of blacktip sharks in unprecedented detail using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography with detailed 3D imaging and in-situ mechanical testing.

Learn more about 'sharkitecture' and how a shark's strong and flexible cartilage could help create advanced materials for every day use.

Using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography with detailed 3D imaging and in-situ mechanical testing, researchers are peering inside shark skeletons at the nanoscale, revealing a microscopic “sharkitecture” that helps these ancient apex predators withstand extreme physical demands of constant motion. After hundreds of millions of years of evolution, scientists can now finally see how shark cartilage works at the nanoscale – and learn from them.

Using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography with detailed 3D imaging and in-situ mechanical testing, researchers are peering inside shark skeletons at the nanoscale, revealing a microscopic 'sharkitecture' that helps these ancient apex predators withstand extreme physical demands of constant motion. After hundreds of millions of years of evolution, scientists can now finally see how shark cartilage works at the nanoscale -- and learn from them.

Sharks don’t have bones. Instead, their skeletons are made from mineralized cartilage that helps them constantly move through water. To understand the internal “sharkitecture” that helps keep these animals strong and graceful, researchers are putting sharks under the microscope.  A new study, published in ACS Nano, found some surprising results. After analyzing shark cartilage, there appear to be two different regions within it.

Using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography with detailed 3D imaging and in-situ mechanical testing, researchers are peering inside shark skeletons at the nanoscale, revealing a microscopic 'sharkitecture' that helps these ancient apex predators withstand extreme physical demands of constant motion. After hundreds of millions of years of evolution, scientists can now finally see how shark cartilage works at the nanoscale -- and learn from them.

Sharks have been evolving for more than 450 million years, developing skeletons not from bone, but from a tough, mineralized form of cartilage.

For over 450 million years, sharks have navigated the ocean’s depths, evolving a unique skeletal system fundamentally distinct from that of most vertebrates. Unlike animals built from bone, sharks possess skeletons composed primarily of a tough, mineralized form of cartilage. This evolutionary adaptation provides a remarkable combination of strength and flexibility, enabling these apex predators to sustain the relentless physical demands of swimming with fluid grace and power.

Learn more about 'sharkitecture' and how a shark's strong and flexible cartilage could help create advanced materials for every day use.