Shark Sex

About this episode

FACT: Some female sharks can reproduce without a fertilized egg; it’s a phenomenon called parthenogenesis. FICTION: A Coney Island fortune teller predicts a shark cloning miracle. Your host, Kasha Patel, imagines what would happen if spectators witnessed a shark give a virgin birth and explores the science behind the various ways sharks reproduce. • A full guide to shark reproduction and baby sharks by Gili Shark Conservation • Switch from sexual to parthenogenetic reproduction in a zebra shark by Christine L. Dudgeon, Laura Coulton, Ren Bone, Jennifer R. Ovenden & Severine Thomas • Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males by Mercedes Burns • How does a shark reproduce without a mate? By Louisa Wright • Lone Parents: Parthenogenesis in Sharks by Wendee Holtcamp • Intrauterine Cannibalism in Sharks by ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research • Shark Cannibalism: It's A Thing And It Just Got Weirder by Melissa Cristina Marquez • Body, jaw, and dentition lengths of macrophagous lamniform sharks, and body size evolution in Lamniformes with special reference to ‘off-the-scale’ gigantism of the megatooth shark, Otodus megalodo