I hope they name it Jesus

[dracadancer]

Virginia shark's pup a 'virgin birth'Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark

Comments

[spencer_mato]

I have some sort of weird issue with them calling parthenogenesis a "virgin birth." It gives the feeling that the value of virginity is universal thing even in nature. Maybe it's for the draw factor of the phrase "virgin birth." I suppose most people would just skim over it if they said that some sharks are able to asexually reproduce.

Whatever, it's cool anyway.

[changeling4hire]

excellent point.

[laws_of_fizzix]

You do have an interesting point -- I woulda skipped if it said "parthenogenesis", but for some reason "virgin birth" and the bits outside the cut made me read this one.

[isis_newton]

I'd be the other way around.

[davegodfrey]

The average person probably won't know what parthenogenesis, or even asexual reproduction, is but everyone knows about virgin births.

Weirdly some lizards (I forget the species, but iirc they're an island species) are all female, and therefore reproduce parthogenetically, but cannot lay eggs unless they are appropriately stimulated (ie have sex with another lizard.) While there's no sperm involved I'm not sure I'd call it a "virgin birth".

[spencer_mato]

Calling it a virgin birth would be assuming all lesbians are virgins forever.

[crusaderfobbit]

The concept is a birth without the sexual act of conception. The easiest way to explain this, and gather the notoriety worthy of such a finding in sharks, is to make everybody who reads this article realize just what happened by looking at the headline

[beyondcrazy4you]

I believe they are called "whiptail lizards." There are a few males in the population for genetic diversity, but pretty much it's all parthenogenesis, meaning most of the lizards are clones.

[sarig]

Not all species have males, there is at least one that is all female. Due to the way it all happens, they don't end up excact clones either though.

[vindaloo]

The little Indo-Pacific gecko that currently hangs around our front door is another species of parthenogenic lizard, that consist of an all female hierarchy. Also, one Komodo dragon gave birth last Christmas without any contact with males in another virgin birth, which is a first recorded in varanid history.

Maybe one day I will take a snapshot of the cute little gecko, if I can get her to stay still long enough.

[cielamara]

Cnemidophorus! Whiptail lizards indeed. I didn't think they were an island species however, just that the populations were isolated.

[sarig]

No sex and no outside forces involved = virgin birth?

Sounds reasonable, and excludes artificial insemination :)

[halfassured]

Well, that is a literal translation of "parthenogenesis."