Endangered Shark Shows Sign of Virgin Birth

An endangered shark species has shown signs of ‘virgin birth’. Italian researchers have discovered that female dusky smooth-hound sharks have given birth – without the involvement of a male.

The southern dusky smooth-hound shark, which is found throughout much of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, can thus reproduce through unfertilized eggs. The discovery was made by Italian researchers who observed two females of the endangered species for several years.

The sharks have been living in captivity without male company since 2010. Four years ago, researchers at an institute in Liguria, Italy, discovered that the females were reproducing.

Since then, the sharks have had offspring every year. The research results are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“This shows that parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) can occur annually in these sharks and definitely rules out the possibility that stored sperm is responsible for reproduction,” write the authors of the study.

Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction that allows some animal species to produce offspring through unfertilized eggs. The phenomenon, sometimes called the virgin birth, has been found in fish, reptiles, frogs, birds, arachnids and aphids.

Last spring, Charlotte the stingray made headlines when she gave birth at an aquarium in Georgia, USA, despite having been single for eight years.