Thursday, May 24, 2007

Nature Finds a Way

Damn that Jeff Goldblum.
When I was in third grade some girl got so annoyed at another boy that she wished there were no boys. Mrs. Magruder slyly reminded her that boys are necessary for repopulation of the world. I can't remember how she put it, but it was clever enough to make sense without giving away any filthy little facts. Probably on a "babies need mommies and daddies" level. Phew. But this article gives reason to panic.

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Female sharks can fertilize their own eggs and give birth without sperm from males, according to a new study of the asexual reproduction of a hammerhead in a U.S. zoo.

The joint Northern Ireland-U.S. research, being published Wednesday in the Royal Society's peer-reviewed Biology Letter journal, analyzed the DNA of a shark born in 2001 in the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska.

The shark was born in a tank with three potential mothers, none of whom had contact with a male hammerhead for at least three years.

The baby was killed within hours of its birth by a stingray in the same tank. Analysis of its DNA found no trace of any chromosomal contribution from a male partner.

Shark experts said this was the first confirmed case in a shark of parthenogenesis, which is derived from Greek and means "virgin birth."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always knew that women are way more capable than men. But this article begs the question - without men, how many Fascination and Castle Boutique shops would be popping up? So I guess we still would want them around on occasion. And you can just look at Rosie and Tank to know why not all species want to be asexual.

Anonymous said...

So that stingray just killed Shark Christ?

Anonymous said...

hahahaha. That's why I love my Nay. I'll pay the eternal price for comedy that golden.