Geneticists have confirmed a case of birth without mating in a bonnethead shark, one of the smaller hammerhead species. That makes sharks the fifth major vertebrate lineage with documented virgin births.
DADS EXCLUDED. This infant bonnethead, which had a mother but no father, represents the first documented example of parthenogenesis in sharks. Henry Doorly Zoo
The mother bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) lives at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb.,
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.