Hammerhead sharks can reproduce without having sex

The evidence comes from a shark at Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska which gave birth to a pup in 2001 despite having had no contact with a male.

Genetic tests by a team from Belfast, Nebraska and Florida prove conclusively the young animal possessed no paternal DNA, Biology Letters journal reports.

The type of reproduction exhibited had been seen before in bony fish but never in cartilaginous fish such as sharks.

read the full story at BBC news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6681793.stm

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-05-24