By , Ecologist and the founder and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network
A team of scientists reported a tiger shark regurgitated an echidna (also called a spiny anteater), a land mammal that is found in Australia and New Guinea according to a University press release.
Possibly the world’s first record of a tiger shark – echidna interaction, the surprised James Cook University scientists, said the animal was regurgitated whole after catching the shark as part of a tagging study.
Echidnas normally lives in forests and woodlands, but it was speculated in may have been swimming in nearshore waters when it was encountered and eaten by the shark.
Turtle Island researchers have also observed and tagged tiger sharks at Cocos Island National Park in Costa Rican waters in the Eastern tropical Pacific and noted the species is known to eat a wide variety of prey besides fish, including sea turtles and seabirds.
See video of a tiger shark chasing a sea turtle at Cocos Island
Video Credit: Elpis Chavez
Programs: Oceans