Miracle shark pregnancy, again
October 11th 2008 06:07
Scientists have used DNA testing to confirm that a female Atlantic shark named Tidbit has become pregnant without any contact with a male shark.
This is exciting news because it is the first time in the history of oceanography that scientists have named a shark "Tidbit".
It is not, however, the first time that scientists have witnessed a virgin pregnancy by a shark. Genetic testing was used to show that a hammerhead shark gave birth in 2002 without the, umm, normal preliminaries. We have no record of the hammerhead's name.
The technical name for virgin birth is parthenogenesis and this latest instance of it occurred at an aquarium in Virginia, US. The 1.5-metre long Tidbit was herself born in the wild eight years ago, but was brought to the aquarium soon after birth. She has lived her whole life with no contact with males of the same species.
She died after being removed from her tank for a veterinary inspection. A subsequent autopsy revealed she was carrying a fully developed pup ready to be born.
Shark scientist Demian Chapman performed DNA testing that showed the pup had no father. "It's a finding that kind of rewrites the textbooks a little," he understated. Parthenogenesis also has been documented in Komodo dragons, snakes, birds, fish and amphibians, Chapman said.
His findings, which appear in the Journal of Fish Biology, the official publication of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, fail to answer one important question: who chose the name Tidbit?
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Comment by katyzzz
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I'm excited and ready to go. Great news.
Comment by Chris Champion
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Comment by RubySoho
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And does Jesus know he has a sibling?
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Check this out...
Comment by Norm
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Comment by Chris Champion
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To answer your first question, how the sharks do it is unclear. In the type of parthenogenesis seen in sharks, the mother's chromosomes split during egg development. After that, Demien Chapman said they may use a hormone to trigger eggs to develop in this manner in the absence of males. Whatever, I'm feeling redundant.
To answer your second question, I'm afraid there is insufficient data on that as well. However, I'm sure Norm will have a theory.
Comment by Chris Champion
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It's certainly a new way of sea-ing things. I look forward to your formulation once formulated
Comment by Chris Champion
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I agree, as I'm sure does Steven Spielberg, who would have had a harder time marketing "Jaws" if he'd called it "Tidbit".
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I think you've watched "Jaws" too often
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