A Guide to Sharks at the American Museum of Natural History

By: American Museum of Natural History

Here’s a handy guide to some of the shark species you can spot in the American Museum of Natural History’s special exhibitions.

Shark Week happens only once a year, but you can see sharks anytime when you visit the American Museum of Natural History! Where are they? Here’s a handy guide to some of the shark species you can spot in the Museum’s special exhibitions and permanent halls.

Chain catshark model in Unseen Oceans

Did you know that some sharks glow with bright fluorescence that is invisible to the human eye? To us, chain catsharks appear tan with brownish black markings, but to other members of this species, whose eyes are packed with rods that can detect even very tiny amounts of light, the lines on their skin glow bright green—just like on the model on view in Unseen Oceans, a special exhibition open now through August 18, 2019. Chain catsharks’ fluorescent markings help these fish recognize each other in dimly lit waters more than 200 feet below the surface.

Visitor tip: Members see Unseen Oceans for free!

A life-size model of a Mako Shark in the Hall of Biodiversity. ©AMNH

A life-size model of a Mako Shark in the Hall of Biodiversity. ©AMNH

Mako shark model in the Hall of Biodiversity

The shortfin mako is the fastest shark around around: this species hits top speeds of 45-60 miles (72-96 km) per hour when hunting tuna, one of the fastest fish alive. A protractible jaw helps mako snatch its prey: when mako catches a tuna, its jaw projects outward, helping extend its reach and snatch its huge prey. Use the Museum's free Explorer app to get turn-by-turn directions to this model in the Hall of Biodiversity and launch the app's AR experience to see its powerful jaws in action!

A life-size model of a whale shark hangs on the back wall of the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, just past the tail of the blue whale. ©AMNH

A life-size model of a whale shark hangs on the back wall of the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, just past the tail of the blue whale. ©AMNH

Whale shark in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life

Did you know that the world’s largest fish is actually a shark named after a mammal? Whale sharks can grow more than 40 feet in length. But while this species is huge—even larger than the fearsome great white—it's a filter feeder, snacking on small fish, squid, and krill. See a life-sized model of a whale shark in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.

Bonus whale shark: Get up close with these majestic animals in the special 360-video immersive experience Swimming with Giants, open daily through August 18 in the same gallery.


This article first appeared on amnh.org. Click here to read the full article.

Next Up

There’s a Lot You Don’t Know About Sharks

But in the meantime, here are some fin-tastic facts you probably didn’t know about sharks.

Shark Week: The Podcast - How To Have A Career in Shark Science

Shark Week’s Luke Tipple tackles the question “How can I work with sharks?” alongside two experts in the field – and their answers are not always the obvious ones. Luke is joined first by Kelly Link, Associate Curator of the Georgia Aquarium who talks about what it’s like to be an aquarist, how it differs from field work, and how to get yourself noticed. The second guest is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag who goes into detail on what it takes to become a prominent scientist, and what other paths you can take if a PhD isn’t for you. And at the end, researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s smallest shark.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Do You Have the Guts to Be a Shark Handler?

Host Luke Tipple welcomes a pair of divers – Leigh Cobb and Josh Eccles – who have taken their passion for sharks and turned it into a dangerous career. They explore what it takes to swim with sharks for a living, then go into common myths and facts on what to do in the open water – if you ever come face to face with a shark. Plus, our researcher Sierra drops by with a new species of shark discovered in the freezing depths of the ocean.

Shark Week: The Podcast - How Did a Shark Encounter Survivor Become an Advocate for Their Protection?

Shark Week’s Luke Tipple welcomes professional photographer Mike Coots, who lost his leg to a tiger shark attack when he was only 18. But after his horrific injury, he came to love sharks, and became a lifelong advocate for their safety. Luke and Mike discuss his career, his love for photographing sharks, and how to positively approach the big life-changing moments that can happen to any of us.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Shipwrecked & Surrounded by Sharks

This week, we do things a little differently, as Shark Week’s Luke Tipple invites Adventure Aaron into the podcast studio to talk about his incredible near-death experience on the open water. Adventure Aaron gets into what it takes to circumnavigate the world in an ocean rowboat, what it’s like to stare eye-to-eye with an oceanic white tip that probably wants you for lunch, and everything else that happened to him when his boat was capsized, and he was lost by himself at sea.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Why is Tagging Baby Great White Sharks So Important?

Luke Tipple speaks with Dr. Riley Elliott, a marine biologist from New Zealand who recently tagged baby great white sharks, which are rarely seen in the wild. They talk about how climate change is affecting shark pupping grounds, why fishers are wrong to think there are “too many sharks,” and about Dr. Elliott’s Great White App, which allows users to track great white sharks in the ocean.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Did Alien Tech Crash-Land into the Ocean?

Host Luke Tipple is joined this week by renowned Harvard professor, Dr. Avi Loeb, who recently led a deep-sea expedition to discover if evidence for advanced alien life crash-landed off the coast of Papua New Guinea in 2014. They discuss the recent Congressional UFO hearings, how the last seventy years of research into extraterrestrial life has been potentially misguided, and the challenges of searching for tiny objects on the bottom of the ocean.

Shark Week: The Podcast - How Smart Are Sharks?

The discussion turns this week to sharks’ intelligence, and how it varies among species. Host Luke Tipple is joined by Dr. Tristan Guttridge, a behavioral ecologist and veteran of Shark Week whose research has tackled the social smarts, and even personalities, of different kinds of sharks. He sheds light on why we shouldn’t just think of them as dumb fish with rows of razor-sharp teeth. And at the end, our researcher Sierra Kehoe tells us about shark hypnosis.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Do Scientists Need to Kill Sharks?

Host Luke Tipple welcomes two guests to discuss how researchers can kill sharks in the name of science – and whether they need to at all. The first is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, shark researcher and founder of Atlantic Shark Expeditions, and an expert on data-gathering in the field. He’s followed by explorer Fred Buyle, a world-record-breaking freediver whose innovative methods of shark tagging are explored. Plus, our researcher Sierra tells us about how a 50-year study changed our understanding of tiger sharks – and much of the work wasn’t even done by scientists.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Superstar Kesha Lifts the Gag Order on Saving Sharks

Pop superstar Kesha joins Shark Week’s Luke Tipple on the podcast to discuss her love of sharks, how her music funds her addiction to diving, and how you can find inner peace while under the water. And at the end, our researcher Sierra drops in to tell us that some sharks have teeth in their eyes.

Related To: