What historical issue arose from the distinct juvenile and adult appearances of Stegostoma species?
Answer
Scientists sometimes classified them as two entirely different species
The extreme difference between the striped juvenile stage and the spotted adult stage caused significant historical taxonomic challenges for researchers studying these sharks. Because the two life stages looked so dissimilar, scientists were at times confused enough to formally classify the juvenile and the adult as two separate and entirely distinct species. This potential for misclassification highlights the dramatic nature of the ontogenetic color change exhibited by *Stegostoma tigrinum*/*fasciatum*.
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