Scientists: Va. shark's pup a 'virgin birth'
By STEVE SZKOTAK – 6 hours ago
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark.
In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.
The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Neb., zoo.
"This first case was no fluke," Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion."
source:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jopMqOO2So3dYy-hCo92NdE5aWuAD93ND98G0
swampgirl's deadpool sift of previous occurrence:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Nature-Finds-a-Way-Parthenogenesis-or-Virgin-Birth
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark.
In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.
The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Neb., zoo.
"This first case was no fluke," Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion."
source:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jopMqOO2So3dYy-hCo92NdE5aWuAD93ND98G0
swampgirl's deadpool sift of previous occurrence:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Nature-Finds-a-Way-Parthenogenesis-or-Virgin-Birth
8 Comments
my15minutesthere isn't any footage available to sift, and there wouldn't be much to see on video, anyway. but i just came across this and really wanted to share it.
"If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us,
it's that life will not be contained."
- Jurasic Park
CrosswordsJesus is back, and this time he's an unstoppable eating machine, BEWARE THE BEACH SINNERS!!
gorgonheapThe Messiah of Sharks I bet.
Doc_MFish are capable of being forced to give birth to haploid progeny (only half the needed DNA is present in the pup), i.e. virgin birth. It is of course possible for this to occur on accident without force. I haven't personally done it, but I know many who have. They don't live long since they don't have all they need to survive and live a complete life. I'm kind of surprised this is news.
my15minutes>> ^Doc_M:
> I'm kind of surprised this is news.
heh. so says the PhD virologist...
and it night not be news, if most were instructed properly about biology, in school.
unfortunately, people with no understanding of it, keep wanting to rewrite the textbooks.
Doc_M>> ^my15minutes:
>> ^Doc_M:
> I'm kind of surprised this is news.
heh. so says the PhD virologist...
and it night not be news, if most were instructed properly about biology, in school.
unfortunately, people with no understanding of it, keep wanting to rewrite the textbooks.
You might be right, and I don't expect any highschooler to understand it. That's what we folk are for. We are informants. We are teachers. In fact, I wish that I will become a teacher as a career. I want to be the person that fills that scientific need, so that you and your parents can decide what they believe and disbelieve.
kronosposeidonnecro *quality
siftbotAwarding my15minutes with one star point for this contribution to Sift Talk - declared quality by kronosposeidon.
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