From the vomit of sharks, science finds them eating a kind of bait no one thinks of

Sharks are an omnivore. As the animal that heads the food chain, it comes to almost everything - from fish to sea turtles, marine mammals, even humans. As long as it's something with meat and they catch it, sharks will eat immediately.

But also because they're overeating, sometimes scientists also wonder what their diet really is. In the same question, experts recently decided to try a few . vomit of tiger shark (tiger shark - Galeocerdo cuvier).

Sharks are omnivores.

They analyzed DNA in it, then discovered unexpected creatures that had "passed their teeth".It is a bird , but not a sea bird but a land-based bird such as a dove, a sparrow and a bird.

"Tiger sharks are a flood of opportunities. They will find meals easily, but it is surprising to see that there are species that sing in their stomachs. I thought only seabirds," - quote Kevin Feldheim, a leading biologist.

"This is really the best project I've ever done, involving DNA testing."

It all started in 2010, when people caught a small tiger shark in Mississippi-Alabama. The shark then "spit" a bird deep in the land - this is astonishing to the scientific community from Mississippi State University.

They decided to investigate further. Is eating birds on land popular? Wanting to answer this question is only a way to test what's in their abdomen, and that's what they did.

In 2010 - 2018, they roam the sea. They put sharks on the boat, put the catheter into the stomach so they . vomited. During this period, they made at least 105 tiger sharks (small size) to vomit clean what they had just eaten.

Although it is too much, but . all for science.

In the shark's abdomen, are birds from the mainland.

The results of 41 vomit show signs of birds, and they appear regularly every year. When sending bird DNA to the Chicago Field Museum, the experts received a very unexpected answer.

"There are no signs of seagulls, pelicans . generally seabirds. All are land birds." - Marcus Drymon from Mississippi State University. They identified a total of 11 species, including 8 song species, 2 species near the sea, and 1 species of freshwater aquatic birds. There are absolutely no seabirds in it.

How can sharks eat birds from the mainland?

Everything has a reason. According to Drymon, the key to the story lies in the time when birds appear in the shark's stomach.

Specimens are collected on a monthly basis, and birds only appear at the time they start migrating. Any individual who is tired of falling into the sea will become a fish lure.

"Tiger sharks will handle the birds neatly when they cannot fly anymore," Feldheim said. "The birds are exhausted from migration. They will become too tired and fall down, or the whole herd will meet if there is a storm."

Seabirds are different. They are accustomed to the wind and the usual conditions in the ocean, so they are better able to handle situations and reduce the risk of falling into the water.

Research has more meaning than you think

Studying a shark's vomit is very free, but its meaning is important. It shows that sharks can depend on a land-based food source, while the migration of birds is influenced by climate change.

All small changes can lead to negative impacts, which humans have changed the Earth too much. No wonder, sharks are getting closer to the brink of extinction.

The study is published in Ecology magazine.