Watch: Smooth-hound shark is born in a tank full of females

In what could be the first case of ‘asexual reproduction’ in the species, this shark was born to a single parent in the absence of fertilization.

Hyderabad: Who would have thought that a baby shark can be born in an aquarium tank full of female sharks? No wonder, then, that the staff is calling this baby smooth-hound shark a ‘miracle baby’.

In what could be the first case of ‘asexual reproduction’ in the species, this shark was born to a single parent in the absence of fertilization. According to ‘Daily Mail’, when this happens, the offspring is a clone of the mother, as they are genetically identical.

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This one-of-its-kind incident happened in Sardinia, Italy, and the baby was born to one of the two females that were in the tank for almost a decade.

The ‘miracle baby’ has been named ‘Ispera’ by the aquarium staff, and if DNA tests show she is identical to one of the females, it will be the first case of asexual reproduction in this particular species of shark.

It was likely she was the result of parthenogenesis, where the genetic material from a particular cell in the mother is able to fertilize an egg to form an embryo.

Watch:

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