Study: Sharks can have 'virgin births'

[w1z4rd]

DUBLIN — Female sharks can fertilize their own eggs and give birth without any sperm from a male shark, according to a new study into the asexual reproduction of a hammerhead in a Nebraska zoo.

The joint Northern Ireland-U.S. research, being published Wednesday in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, analyzed the DNA of a shark born in 2001 in the Henry Doorly Zoo — in a tank with three potential mothers, none of whom had contact with a male hammerhead for at least three years.

Analysis of the baby shark's DNA found no trace of any contribution from a male partner. Shark experts said this was the first confirmed case in a shark of parthenogenesis, which derived from the Greek means "virgin birth."

Asexual reproduction is common in some insect species, rarer in reptiles and fish, and has never been documented in mammals. The list of animals documented as capable of the feat has grown in line with the numbers being raised in captivity — but until now, sharks were not considered a likely candidate.

"The findings were really surprising because as far as anyone knew, all sharks reproduced only sexually by a male and female mating, requiring the embryo to get DNA from both parents for full development, just like in mammals," said marine biologist Paulo Prodahl, of Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, co-author of the report.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-05-22-shark-virgin-birth_N.htm

 

[cyghost]

Ohnoes! A blow to logic and reason!

Just kidding

Wow, very interesting find w1z4rd. We live on an amazing world!!!

 

[Highflyer_GP]

/off topic
Well dodo has admitted to being in his 40's, single and with no kids. Maybe he doesn't know that he could possibly be the first mammal to reproduce asexually if he didn't staunchly believe in heterosexual reproduction being the only possible way?

/on topic
This is rather interesting. Could we possibly be seeing the evolution of the Hammerhead towards being an asexual species (and hence the extinction of male Hammerheads)?

 

[Natas]

You mean Jesus was a shark!?!?!? WOW.... that explains a lot!!! Like when the bible talks about J3sus walking on water, they were actually talking about how effortlessly he glides through it!!