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A gray shark swims through blue water.

Sharks have very good senses. While people used to think sharks' eyesight was poor, studies have shown that they can actually see better than humans, allowing them to hunt even at night. They also have a finely tuned sense of smell. But their strongest sense is hearing. Some sharks can hear prey moving from 3,000 feet (914 meters) away. Sharks also have a line of sensors along their bodies, called ampullae of Lorenzini, that pick up electrical impulses in the water.

Each species of shark has a unique tooth shape, enabling scientists to identify a shark from just a single tooth. A typical shark has 10 to 15 rows of teeth in its mouth. The front row is used for feeding. If one of these teeth breaks off, new teeth move up from the farther back rows.

Photograph by Amos Nachoum/CORBIS

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