Shark Gives Birth Asexually In Absence Of Mate
- 7 years ago
A leopard shark has become the first known specimen of its species "to change from sexual to asexual reproduction," according to a news release from the University of Queensland in Australia.
A leopard shark has become the first known specimen of its species "to change from sexual to asexual reproduction," according to a news release from the University of Queensland in Australia.
This finding was documented in a recently published study which centers around a female aquarium shark called Leonie.
As Dr. Christine Dudgeon, one of the researchers, explains in the release, “Leonie had pups with a male leopard shark until 2013, when the breeding pair were separated for space reasons.”
She then adds, “In April 2016 Leonie hatched three eggs, despite having no access to a mating partner for three mating seasons. We thought she could be storing sperm but when we tested the pups and the possible parent sharks using DNA fingerprinting, we found they only had cells from Leonie.”
This type of sexual switching is believed to be unprecedented, as the several previously observed cases of asexual shark reproduction occurred with no prior mating history.
According to Dr. Dudgeon, Leonie’s case “has big implications for conservation and shows us how flexible the shark’s reproductive system really is.”
A leopard shark has become the first known specimen of its species "to change from sexual to asexual reproduction," according to a news release from the University of Queensland in Australia.
This finding was documented in a recently published study which centers around a female aquarium shark called Leonie.
As Dr. Christine Dudgeon, one of the researchers, explains in the release, “Leonie had pups with a male leopard shark until 2013, when the breeding pair were separated for space reasons.”
She then adds, “In April 2016 Leonie hatched three eggs, despite having no access to a mating partner for three mating seasons. We thought she could be storing sperm but when we tested the pups and the possible parent sharks using DNA fingerprinting, we found they only had cells from Leonie.”
This type of sexual switching is believed to be unprecedented, as the several previously observed cases of asexual shark reproduction occurred with no prior mating history.
According to Dr. Dudgeon, Leonie’s case “has big implications for conservation and shows us how flexible the shark’s reproductive system really is.”