Female Sharks Can Reproduce Asexually

Female Sharks Can Reproduce Asexually

It’s a process called parthenogenesis that was originally thought to be found in most vertebrate lines except mammals and, until now, cartilaginous fishes like sharks. I can hear Ian Malcolm frenetically effusing the line, “Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way,” in the back of my head (the part dedicated to Jurassic Park-related trivia).

But Dr. Hueter said he thought it unlikely that most sharks, which are highly mobile, would end up so isolated that parthenogenesis would be much of a factor. Sharks have plenty of other problems that are of potentially greater impact.

“I would be concerned about a lot of other things than whether or not a female shark can get a date for an evening,” he said.