Shark "Virgin Birth" Confirmed

Shark "Virgin Birth" Confirmed

news.nationalgeographic.com

A female blacktip shark in Virginia fertilized her own egg without mating with a male shark, new DNA evidence shows.

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)

How very interesting and strange that there is no apparent cause for this to happen.

Maybe a virgin birth is a little more possible than we think, just beyond our current understanding.

I guess the biggest problem is that fact that this make NO biological sense whatsoever, how can an egg just mature with no sperm.

news.nationalgeographic.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It's the Second Coming, just in time for the antichrist, as foretold by the profit...

Oh, it's a shark!

This has most likely happened in the past with other sharks, but to have it observed is awesome.

Too bad she died

I'm glad that human females can't give virgin births... us males would be out of a job. Damn!

Exactly how can the shark spawn with only one half of the recipie??? Seems strange to me!

Edit: Does it have any implications for bringing dinosaurs back to life, as in Jurassic Park? (All female dinosaurs ended up fertilising themselves)

[edit on 11-10-2008 by tezzajw]

wuuuuuuut.. i never even knew this was possible. this is certainly my first time ever reading about anything like this. that is totally cool! and very interesting.

pfft, sharks.. stealin' all the christians thunder. =.=

reply to post by SilentShadow


I will just be the antagonist for once and say that it is improbable. I mean, how many other factors could there have been to spawn this seemly virgin birth.

" 'So the question is, where does this baby come from?' he asked. "

Maybe it was similar to Jurassic park....



[edit on 11-10-2008 by Unlimitedpossibilities]

Sounds fishy to me but hey that is pretty cool. I know there are asexual
species of plants, etc. but never thought it possible for animals. After seeing that man give birth to a child, I guess anything is possible.

Nothing strange here folks. There are fish that are born female then turn into males if no males are available, but that aside, here is some info about :
asexual reproduction

A number of invertebrates and some less advanced vertebrates are known to alternate between sexual and asexual reproduction, or be exclusively asexual. Alternation is observed in a few types of insects, such as aphids (which will, under favourable conditions, produce eggs that have not gone through meiosis, essentially cloning themselves) and the cape bee Apis mellifera capensis (which can reproduce asexually through a process called thelytoky). A few species of amphibians and reptiles have the same ability (see parthenogenesis for concrete examples). A very unusual case among more advanced vertebrates is the female turkey's ability to produce fertile eggs in the absence of a male. The eggs result in often sickly, and nearly always male turkeys. This behaviour can interfere with the incubation of eggs in turkey farming.[3] Another unusual case would be certain species of sharks. [4] Bdelloid rotifers reproduce exclusively asexually, and all individuals in the class Bdelloidea are females. Asexuality evolved in these animals millions of years ago and has persisted since. There is evidence to suggest that asexual reproduction has allowed the animals to evolve new proteins through the Meselson effect that have allowed them to survive better in periods of dehydration.

reply to post by SilentShadow


Not the only species to do this...the Hawaiian blind snake does this as well. (although it technically speaking is not native to Hawaii.)

Peace

dAlen

reply to post by WatchNLearn


well its only strange in the fact that most of us dont learn about much that happens around us in this world. Therefore we have more built up prejudices. (from narrow minded point of views.)

Peace

dAlen