From penguins to sea otters, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium is home to a handful of creatures. It's also the roaming grounds of a shark -- but not just any kind. The animal is an endangered zebra shark who was conceived asexually.
In a study published Nov. 12, aquarium caretaker Lise Watson and Field Museum scientist Kevin Feldheim reported that a zebra shark had a “virgin birth" at the Chicago habitat. The phenomenon, referred to as parthenogenesis, is a type of reproduction in which female animals fertilize eggs with their own genetic material, according to the aquarium.
The aquarium said parthenogenesis is often a "last-ditch" effort for animals to reproduce in case mates are unavailable. But the study revealed that the zebra shark had offspring by herself in 2008, despite there being prospective males she could have mated with.
“We've known for several years that parthenogenesis occurs in animals like sharks, but some aspects of it remain unknown, like why it occurs and what triggers it,” Feldhim said in a release. “This latest paper is just another step in learning why these ‘virgin births’ happen.”
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According to the aquarium, researchers found the zebra shark pups were conceived asexually through genetic testing, discovering that one batch of eggs had the genetic information of only one shark in the habitat: their mother.
While pups born via parthenogenesis tend to have a short life expectancy, the aquarium said their very existence "challenges long-standing ideas in biology" and can impact the conservation of all sorts of endangered species.
“This discovery throws a wrench in what we thought we knew about how and why parthenogenesis happens, and it illustrates a key aspect of science: We’re continually learning," Feldheim said in a release.
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