Ancestor of Sharks, Humans Had Sixth Sense

Ancestor of Sharks, Humans Had Sixth Sense

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The common ancestor of sharks and humans — and all jawed animals with a backbone for that matter — possessed a sixth sense: the ability to detect electrical fields under water. The anatomical tools for this ability, called electroreceptors and electrosensory ampullary organs, arose from the same cell population in both cartilaginous fishes (such as sharks and skates) and bony fishes (such as sturgeons and paddlefish) along with some salamanders, concludes the study, published in the journal Development. Unfortunately, humans lost this sixth sense a long time ago.