Epaulette sharks, scientifically known as *Hemiscyllium ocellatum* and other species within the *Hemiscyllium* genus, are a fascinating group of marine animals primarily found in the shallow reefs of Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia. They are famously dubbed 'walking sharks' due to their remarkable ability to 'walk' along the seafloor and even across land between tidal pools, using their paddle-shaped pectoral and pelvic fins. This unique form of locomotion, often described as a crawling, undulating motion, allows them to navigate complex coral reef systems and forage for small fish and crustaceans in areas inaccessible to other predators. Beyond their distinctive movement, epaulette sharks exhibit extraordinary physiological adaptations, including an exceptional tolerance for low-oxygen (hypoxia) conditions and varying temperatures. They can survive for extended periods with minimal or no oxygen by reducing their heart rate and blood flow to non-essential parts of the brain. A recent groundbreaking study, published in *Biology Open* and widely reported in January 2026, revealed a particularly surprising insight: epaulette sharks can produce and lay eggs without any measurable increase in energy expenditure. This finding challenges long-standing biological assumptions that reproduction is an inherently energy-intensive process for most animals, especially egg-laying species. Researchers suggest this metabolic efficiency could be a key factor in their success and resilience in demanding reef environments, particularly under environmental stressors like warming oceans. Furthermore, genetic analyses show that walking sharks are evolutionary newcomers, having diverged from their closest ancestors approximately 9 million years ago, making them the most recently evolved shark species on Earth. The rapid diversification of these nine known species underscores their remarkable evolutionary adaptability. While the existence of 'walking sharks' has been known for some time, these new findings significantly enrich our understanding of their unique biology and evolutionary trajectory.