What does a hammerhead 'hammer' do?

Previously, there were many explanations given around the hammer of the hammerhead shark.It is suggested that protrusions on hammerhead sharks help them with longer field receptors, because many sharks often use this receptor to detect prey and hammerhead sharks are not is the exception.

The wide head has allowed the sight of hammerhead sharks to be twice as large as normal.

However, recently, when testing this hypothesis, two American scientists Stephen Kajiura and Kim Holland of the University of Hawaii have different ideas. According to them, the hammer of the hammerhead shark indeed helps it to find and catch prey, but not according to the conventional way of thinking of zoologists.

The researchers used a wire system located at the bottom of the lake, creating an electric field that simulates the electric field emitted by the shrimp and fish. They observed that when the prey was discovered, the hammerhead shark suddenly rushed forward. But when measuring the distance from the shark to the source of the electric field, the researchers found that it was only equivalent to the hunting distance of normal sharks.

This proves that both species are equally capable of sensing electric fields and that the 'hammer' is unlikely to increase the sensibility of hammerhead sharks . And finally, the team discovered another use: with a wide head (two eyes at the 'hammer' angles) that allowed the sight of hammerhead sharks twice as large as normal , increasing the chance search, catch prey.

NGUYEN SINH