Second Virgin Shark Birth Confirmed!

Remember Tidbit? Well, back in May 2007, the 5-foot, 94-pound shark died after she was given a sedative before undergoing a yearly checkup. But a 10-inch shark pup was found during a necropsy! They initially thought the embryonic pup was either the product of a virgin birth or a cross between the blacktip and a male of another shark species.

In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female blacktip shark in a Virginia aquarium contained no genetic material from a male.

Tidbit’s pup was nearly full term and scientists have confirmed that this was second case of a “virgin birth” in a shark.

The first documented case of asexual reproduction among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Nebraska, zoo.

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