No one knows how the still-wet, smelly carcass got there, but before Metro Transit Authorities removed the shark Wednesday night, passengers leapt at the opportunity to snap photos of the 1.5-foot-long (0.4-meter-long) shark with a subway fare card, soft drink, and cigarette.

The shark is just one of many exotic-animal sightings in the Big Apple, where the saying "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" could even apply to wildlife in the concrete jungle. (See pictures of six animal "commuters.")

A 7-foot (2-meter) male dolphin drifted into the polluted waters of New York City's Gowanus Canal in January. According to marine biologists, his death was not caused by pollution in the canal, but