Virgin Births – It’s Not Just For Mythology

Virgin Births – It’s Not Just For Mythology

 

Background

There are many myths which have tales of mothers?giving birth without conception. In our current reality, no human has this ability. ?This isn’t the case however for?some sharks, reptiles, and birds. Parthenogenesis is the ability for an organism to reproduce without fertilization of eggs. ?This is frequently seen in captive animals but there are also representatives found in the wild.??One such wild species is found in New Mexico and nicknamed,?the “Lesbian lizard” (Cnemidophorus uniparens). It’s an all female species that stimulate each other to ovulate. (See study here).?There are a number of lizard species in the genus Cnemidophorus that are also asexual.

Three Species of Cnemidophorus
“Cnemidophorus-ThreeSpecies” by Photograph by Alistair J. Cullum (Acullum at en.wikipedia) Email: [email protected]

 

Welcome to The Club

(Cell Biology, June 1st 2015) – For the first time, Marine biologists think they have?discovered?a shark that normally reproduces sexually, now reproducing via parthenogenesis in the wild. Researchers discovered this by accident while sifting through genetic data. Samples from seven sharks suggest that these sharks?all had only one parent. This doesn’t mean the entire species, just this one particular parent may have this ability. They hope to find these offspring again?in the future and see if they can also reproduce asexually.

The researchers?speculate that the steady decrease in population size may have naturally selected for an option to?reproduce?without fertilization.

Image of Small-toothed Sawfish
Image from: National Wild Life Federation: https://www.nwf.org/ – 2015

 

So What Do We Know?

Well, the researchers aren’t sure if this is an?emerging trend or only a process that one individual developed in a rare and?special circumstance. This does make one wonder how many other animals out there can reproduce this way. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Life.. finds a way”.

Jeff Goldblum Image: Life, uh finds a Way
Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park (1993), Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

 

For more reading: Check out, the first mammal born without male fertilization:?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaguya_%28mouse%29

Reggie holds a B.S. in Human Development and a M.Ed. in Science Communication. He is wrapping up an M.S. in Biology from Clemson University, and is also a Doctoral student in Educational Psychology with California Coast University. He has been an informal science and critical thinking educator since 1998 spearheading one of the largest podcasting sites dedicated to free inquiry and science. He retired from podcasting and currently works as a biology educator in Orlando, FL. He is a vegan (most of the time) and his hobbies are: genealogy, singing, anime, watching science-oriented documentaries, and science fact-checking. Feel free to add Reggie on LinkedIn where he periodically writes articles on critical thinking, evolution, and other sciences: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginaldfinley