How Can This Shark Species, Which is all Female, Reproduce?
This shark species only has female members; how do they reproduce?
Learn more about parthenogenesis, a method of animal reproduction that enables the development of an embryo without fertilization.
The birth of a smooth-hound shark in 2021 astounded the staff at a Sardinian aquarium. It was upsetting to learn that the shark's mother had only been cohabitating with females for the previous ten years. What makes this birth feasible, then? Can other species reproduce in this manner as well? Susana Freitas and Darren Parker examine the phenomenon of parthenogenesis, which is asexual reproduction.
A smooth hound shark named Ispera was born in a Sardinian aquarium in 2021, shocking the staff there. They were astonished to learn that Ispera's mother had only lived with women for the previous ten years. However, it is entirely conceivable that Ispera did not have a father because this would also explain other biological oddities, like a species of lizard that is exclusively female.
Typically, sex cells in sexual organisms have half the chromosomes needed to develop a healthy embryo. A sperm cell must therefore fertilize an egg cell in order to create two complete sets of chromosomes. However, parthenogenesis, a sort of asexual reproduction, can occur in some organisms with sex cells—meaning, in Greek "virgin origin".
An embryo is created during parthenogenesis from an unfertilized egg cell whose own chromosomal count is doubled. In actuality, certain species can reproduce both sexually and parthenogenetically, whereas others can only ever proceed by parthenogenesis. In truth, it happens more frequently than previously believed.
More than 80 different sexual vertebrate species, including Komodo dragons and some varieties of turkeys, pythons, and sharks, have sporadically used this method of reproduction, shocking us. These findings were frequently made when captive females unexpectedly gave birth.
One example is the birth of Ispera, which could be the first description of parthenogenesis in smooth hound sharks. Additionally, researchers found evidence of parthenogenesis in several populations of wild snakes. However, it is unknown how many fatherless animals are slithering, swimming, and running around in the wild because it is difficult to monitor without population-wide genetic studies.
So why is it even happening? In some circumstances, parthenogenesis may be advantageous to evolution since, well, sex may be a drag. It might take a lot of time and effort to perform the demands and rituals related to mating, leaving them open to predators and possibly resulting in death.
In contrast, parthenogenesis only needs one parent. As they only have about a day to breed before they expire, mayflies will occasionally fall back to parthenogenesis if there are no males available.
A population can also be quickly increased with its aid. Pea aphids can rely on parthenogenesis in the summer when food is plentiful, which enables their population to grow under favorable circumstances. And they return to having sex in the fall. However, some snakes, lizards, geckos, aphids, katydids, and lizards can only ever reproduce by parthenogenesis.
So why do other animals engage in sexual activity? Scientists contend that the benefits of sex outweigh any short-term drawbacks. It enables people to combine their genes, increasing genetic diversity. In this manner, when times are rough, advantageous mutations can be chosen and dangerous ones can be eliminated without wiping out the entire population.
On the other hand, individuals in a parthenogenetic population can only conceive using their own genetic material. That's not good, goes a notion dubbed Muller's Ratchet. According to the idea, parthenogenetic lineages will amass deleterious mutations that will progress over time and finally, after tens of thousands of generations, reach a "mutational meltdown" point.
Individuals will be unable to reproduce at this point, which will cause the population to collapse and eventually result in extinction. This entire process still hasn't fully played out in the natural world. However, researchers have found that parthenogenetic stick insects have a buildup of deleterious mutations that are not present in their sexual counterparts. If this leads to their demise, only time will tell.
Otherwise, it appears that some parthenogenetic organisms have strategies to get around a melting down of mutation. The hybridization of two distinct lizard species resulted in the creation of the all-female New Mexico whiptail lizards. Because they are hybrids, their genome combines the various chromosome sets from their two parent species. They now have a very diverse genetic makeup, which may help them endure for a very long time.
In contrast, parthenogenetic reproduction has been occurring in bdelloid rotifers for 60 million years. It's possible that they did this by ingesting foreign genetic material. In fact, only 10% of their genes originate from other creatures like bacteria, algae, and fungi. Although it is unclear exactly how they accomplish this, the tactic appears to be effective. We'll need additional research—and perhaps a few more Ispera-like surprises—to fully unravel the secrets of reproduction.
About the Creator
Althea March
I am a writer who searches for facts to create compelling nonfictional accounts about our everyday lives as human beings, and I am an avid writer involved in creating short fictional stories that help to stir the imagination for anyone.
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