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South Carolina team finds new hammerhead shark species

Posted at 10:14 AM, Nov 08, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-08 12:14:43-05

By Ashley Fantz

(CNN) — A team of University of South Carolina researchers has made a remarkable discovery: a rare new breed of hammerhead shark it’s dubbed the Carolina hammerhead.

The shark’s outward features are indistinguishable from those of the common scalloped hammerhead, a kind of low profile that allowed it to go for so long without detection, according to a USC news release.

South Carolina ichthyologist Joe Quattro, a USC biology professor, made the discovery.

“South Carolina is a well-known pupping ground for several species of sharks, including the hammerhead,” according to the USC release. “The female hammerhead will birth her young at the ocean-side fringes of the estuary; the pups remain there for a year or so, growing, before moving out to the ocean to complete their life cycle.”

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