Hammerhead Shark Gave "Virgin Birth" in Omaha Zoo
May 24, 2007 - National Geographic News
By STEFAN LOVGREN
A hammerhead shark born in a Nebraska zoo in 2001 was the result of a so-called virgin birth, new DNA evidence shows. The finding marks the first confirmed case of a female shark fertilizing her own eggs and giving birth without sperm from a male, a process known as parthenogenesis. "We were very surprised to find parthenogenesis in a shark," said Mahmood Shivji, director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Florida's Nova Southeastern University. ...Shivji is the co-author of a study detailing the findings that was published yesterday in the journal Biology Letters.
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