2006-12-02 08:12:30 · 13 answers · asked by kathy m 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Sharks are fish.
2006-12-02 08:19:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree with pessimoptimist. Although, some sharks (the great white for example) are warm blooded. Hair is the distinguishing characterisic of mammals. Not a single shark has hair. Dolphins and whales do have hair (not very much). Also, the ability of females to produce milk is another characteristic of being a mammal. Not a single shark or any type of fish can produce milk. Dolphins, whales, dogs, cats, rats, etc. all can produce milk (if they are female).
2006-12-02 09:33:01 · answer #2 · answered by Mara 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Remember the definition of "mammal"? It is warm-blooded, has hair or fur on the body, has mammary glands with which to nurse its young and a diaphragm used in respiration with a four-chambered heart with a circuit to the lungs separate from the systemic circulation.
This definition does not apply to the shark. Primarily, it is not warm-blooded, and spends all of its life under water. It does not have to come to the surface to breathe. Incidentallly, not all sharks give birth to live young. Some lay eggs which must be broken open. A female shark does not have mammary glands. The newborn shark is fully functional and does not need, nor does it get, any care from its parent.
Anywhere you look up "shark", the opening paragraph will inform you that it is a fish of the class Chondrichthyes.
2006-12-02 09:04:09 · answer #3 · answered by pessimoptimist 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No sharks are fish because they have gills and not lungs. They give birth to live young like mammals, but they are not mammals.
2006-12-02 08:20:27 · answer #4 · answered by Mrs. Jackson 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No!
Sharks are clearly fish.
They deposit eggs, which develop into little baby sharks without parental help.
2006-12-05 00:46:10 · answer #5 · answered by saehli 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No they are fish
Whales, dolphins, and Porpoises are though
The whale shark is also a shark and therefore a fish
2006-12-02 08:21:01 · answer #6 · answered by Jeff D 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no they are not. Sharks are cold blooded animals
2006-12-02 08:27:37 · answer #7 · answered by samanthabohon 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no, sharks are fish, they have gills and breathe underwater. but unlike most fish they have their babies live or in an egg case.
2006-12-02 08:21:09 · answer #8 · answered by luke 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sharks are mammals because they give birth to young ones.
2006-12-02 08:24:19 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 8⤋
I thought they were a fish, but now that I think of it they are mammals, because they have a backbone, just like dolphins, and they are consedered mammals, too.
2006-12-02 08:21:40 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 8⤋