Posted on 02/08/2008 10:57:55 AM PST by forkinsocket
Imprisoned in a tank hundreds of miles from a mate, Ibolya the female shark resorted to desperate measures. To the astonishment of her keepers, she spontaneously produced a perfectly healthy pup.
The virgin birth is making biologists think again about one of the oldest and - in evolutionary terms - most successful creatures.
"When I saw the baby shark lying on the bottom of the tank I thought it was a joke," said Attilia Varga, the director of the Nyiregyahaza Centre in Hungary. "I was amazed when I realised it was a real shark."
Ibolya, a white-tipped reef shark, has been with the aquarium for seven years. In that time, she has never shared water with a male.
The pup has been a hit with visitors - but has left keepers looking for a bigger tank. They also plan to find a male so Ibolya can breed conventionally next time.
Virgin birth - parthenogenesis - happens when an egg begins to divide without being fertilised. Common in insects, it is rare in vertebrates such as fish, birds and reptiles.
Scientists believe that sharks use it as an emergency survival mechanism. Normally animals rely on genetic diversity - the interplay of genes from two parents - to evolve. However, reproduction without sex is a useful stopgap.
Sharks are one of Nature's great survivors, appearing in the oceans 400million years ago - before the dinosaurs. Normally their eggs are fertilised inside the female.
In the white tip and most other species, the female gives birth to live young.
I’m always amazed how scientists think they know everything, until they suddenly don’t.
Now, I’m sure the feminists are thinking about how they can do that.
*flipping through Bible* I don’t see anything about Jesus coming back as a shark...
Just like in Jurassic Park—”Nature will find a way”
Wow! A virgin birth of a shark. Maybe that little pup can “walk on land”.
Are they absolutely sure they haven’t seen any attorneys near the tank?
Parthenogenesis, so that’s how it happened...
Shark - the Herald Angels Sing...
Happens a lot and over the years has caused many threads on FR for reasons unknown.
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!>...................
A shark needs a man like a...
Parthogenesis is not new to science. Besides, discovery is a part of science. New discoveries improve science, and not the other way round.
ROFLMAO!!
ROTFL! I nominate your post for “post of the day”!
There was this girl in my high school who got pregnant from a swimming pool.
After the birth three wise tuna were seen admiring the newborn shark and bestowing it with gifts of plankton and herring.
Global warming.
Feminism 401 (advanced studies).
Nicely played!
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