Fig. 3. Material properties of mineralized cartilage in shark vertebral centra. (A) Ultimate strength (MPa) of vertebral cartilages from seven elasmobranch species showing significant differences (F_6,151=182.8; P<0.001). The broken horizontal line represents the lower limits of trabecular bone (Rho et al., 1994). Letters above the box and whisker plot denote significant differences between species. (B) Material stiffness was significantly different among the species (F_6,151=54.4; P<0.001). T. californica was less stiff than all shark species (P<0.001). The horizontal line shows the lower limits of stiffness for trabecular bone (Hodgskinson and Currey, 1992). (C) Yield strain was significantly different among the species (F_6,147=27.6; P<0.001). T. californica had the greatest yield strain of all species (P<0.007).