Shark Gives Birth Without Mating

A blacktip shark named Tidbit from the Virginia Aquarium in the Norfolk Canyon Aquarium has given birth without mating. Researchers have verified this through DNA testing which confirmed that the baby shark was produced asexually. The baby shark contained no paternal DNA, only DNA from the mother.

How is this even possible? Some organisms are capable of reproducing without mating through a process called parthenogenesis. This is the second documented case of this type of phenomenon occurring among sharks. The first case involved a hammerhead shark from an Omaha, Nebraska zoo.

Learn more about this discovery, see:

• Virgin Birth By Shark Confirmed (Science Daily)