As reported in a paper written by Australian scientists, Leonie, the leopard shark, gave birth despite the fact that she had not been around a male shark since 2012.
Stegostoma fasciatum, or leopard or zebra sharks, have been known to give birth with no mate; however, though it is called a ‘virgin birth’, the shark in this case was had mated with a male and given birth at the Reef HQ Aquarium. This is a first of its kind, as typically the sharks that experience this phenomena have not mated before.
Scientists believed that Leonie had stored sperm from her prior reproduction encounter; however, genetic tests revealed that this was likely not the case.
Leonie, much like a chicken, is part of a species that can continue to lay unfertilized eggs, even without a male. In her case, however, one of her eggs hatched. Though not with sharks, this event has occurred before in other creatures, such as the Spotted Eagle Ray.
