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May
23
2007
With the finding reported this week in Biology Letters that hammerhead sharks can reproduce asexually, we mammals are left as the only jawed vertebrate lineage that can’t. (No doubt certain individuals spring to mind that confirm our oddness as a good thing). Genetic analyses carried out by marine scientists Paulo Prodöhl, Demian Chapman -- now at the Pew Institute for Ocean Science -- and colleagues have unequivocally confirmed that a female bonnethead shark Sphyrna tiburo pup -- born at a Florida aquarium -- was indeed a clone of her virgin mother. We now need to know how frequently sharks reproduce asexually, and what the effects might be on the population genetics of endangered species. There’s a problem to sink one’s teeth into... Source: Chapman DD, Shivji MS, Louis E, Sommer J, Fletcher H & Prodöhl PA (2007) Virgin birth in a hammerhead shark. Biology Letters DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0189
Image © John Stublar
Filed Under Endangered species, Marine, Monitoring, Restoration |
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