Virgin Pregnancy
A necropsy revealed that a virgin shark was pregnant at the time of death and was nearly ready to give birth. Parthenogenesis was not thought to be common among sharks, the last documented case was at an Omaha zoo in 2002.
Genetic testing confirmed that the unborn shark had no father. The testing was done at Stony Brook University (always like giving a shoutout to my uni) at the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. This could indicate that parthenogenesis could be more common in sharks than previously thought.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Hmmm… Maybe Jesus was really a shark!?! :eek:
December 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Response to iNow: Maybe indeed but in order to have been born by parthenogenesis he would have had to have been female. The baby virgin-birthed shark will also be female, as there is no way that parthenogenesis would lead to a Y chromosome.