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DNA confirms another shark 'virgin birth'

 
 
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2008 07:29 pm
Scientists: Virginia shark's pup a 'virgin birth'

Quote:
Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark. In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.

The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Neb., zoo.

"This first case was no fluke," Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion."
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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 2,686 • Replies: 8
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rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Oct, 2008 08:32 am
@Robert Gentel,
So, are the little sharks clones of their mother?
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Oct, 2008 08:40 am
@rosborne979,
Thay 'd have to be.
Blickers
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Oct, 2008 12:11 pm
@OmSigDAVID,
So sharks are part amoeba?
0 Replies
 
rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Oct, 2008 03:29 pm
No wonder sharks lasted so long in the evolutionary tree. They're like Tribbles, all they have to do is eat enough and they pop out a new one.
0 Replies
 
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Oct, 2008 03:36 pm
@Robert Gentel,
Oh My God!

Another Miracle!

But, which virgin born shark is the real Messiah Shark? The one born in Virginia, or the one born in Nebraska?

It's clear that one is the True Way, and the other is, well, the Other.

patiodog
 
  2  
Reply Wed 22 Oct, 2008 03:36 pm
It's a sensible fallback reproduction strategy for an open water predator, whose population density is necessarily very, very low. It wouldn't surprise me if it's quite common. There are plenty of reptiles and amphibians who reproduce through parthenogenesis.
0 Replies
 
Blickers
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Oct, 2008 10:42 pm
@chai2,
When you think about it, Nebraska is a strange place for a shark to be from.
patiodog
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Oct, 2008 06:02 am
@Blickers,
Well, that's what you get for thinkin'.
0 Replies
 
 

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