virgin birth? nothing special, even sharks do it

parthenogenesis, i.e. asexual reproduction, is not unknown among humans, although some would have you believe virgin birth only happened once and that that was a divine act [well yeah, isn’t everything, whether your personal divinity involves the Goddess, the Matrix, or whatever?]

true, it doesn’t occur often in mammals, but it’s common among plants, bees and fleas, and lots of other living things; now we can be more certain it happens with sharks, too

the first report, in 2001, came from a Nebraska zoo where DNA evidence proved a newborn hammerhead was a result of so-called virgin birth

now, at Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, a necropsy after the death, during a routine physical exam, of a female blacktip shark revealed she was carrying a near-term pup fetus, even though there hadn’t been a male in her tank in more than 8 years

how come you don’t see these stories in your daily newspaper?

more next time

Blessed Be