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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Shark "Virgin Birth" Confirmed


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A blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, is shown in this March 2008 file photo in the Indian Ocean off Aliwal Shoal, South Africa.

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.

Photograph courtesy Institute for Ocean Conservation Science/Matthew D. Potenski