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Shock Times Two: Shark Virgin Birth Confirmed by DNA
By Josh Hart
Oct 11, 2008		  

A blacktip shark, like the one pictured here, is the second documented case of a female shark becoming pregnant without the aid of a male shark.  According to a report from National Geographic, this is the second time scientists have used DNA testing to verify shark parthenogenesis—the process that allows females of some species to produce offspring without sperm.  Discovery News reports that the Virgin birth, scientifically known as parthenogenesis, has previously been proven in certain amphibians, reptiles, birds and bony fish.
Shock Times Two: Shark Virgin Birth Confirmed by DNA (Image: Wenn)
Shock Times Two: Shark Virgin Birth Confirmed by DNA (Image: Wenn)

"Parthenogenesis may not have evolved in sharks," Demian Chapman, who led the research, told Discovery News. "It may just be an occasional mistake that sometimes occurs when eggs are left unfertilized."

***

Chapman is the lead author of a study on the female blacktip in the latest issue of the Journal of Fish Biology and according to the National Geographic report, "Chapman and his colleagues generated a DNA fingerprint for the mother shark and her pup fetus with a procedure identical to a human paternity test."

Normally, an embryo is formed when an egg containing half its chromosomes is fertilized by a sperm containing the other half, but here one shark embryo was formed.  More here on the process here at National Geographic.





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