A virgin birth may seem miraculous, but in some animals this wonder is completely natural.
Certain animals such as sharks and snakes are capable of producing healthy offspring without even mating, through a process known as parthenogenesis.
Recently, in the United States, the Charlotte ray became pregnant without even seeing a member of her own species.
But was this divine intervention or just another wonder of the natural world?
This step-by-step chart reveals the fascinating details of how Charlotte was able to get pregnant without mating.
Certain animals are capable of reproducing through “facultative parthenogenesis,” in which the egg is fertilized with cells from the mother rather than by a male.
Recently, in the United States, the Charlotte ray became pregnant without even seeing a member of her own species. But was this divine intervention or just another wonder of the natural world?
Charlotte, a round ray that has spent much of her life at the Shark Laboratory and Aquarium in Hendersonville, North Carolina, is expected to give birth to four pups within a fortnight.
But her keepers say there is no chance she became pregnant by mating with another member of her species.
Most animals create their offspring through sexual reproduction, which requires a male and female to exchange genetic material.
The mother’s egg contains half of a set of genes that is completed by the genes contained in the male’s sperm.
However, certain animals such as sharks, birds, snakes and even crocodiles are capable of reproducing differently.
Scientists believe Charlotte became pregnant through a process called “facultative parthenogenesis.”
During facultative parthenogenesis, the offspring obtains its complete set of genes from its mother.
Instead of fertilizing the egg with a sperm, it is fertilized by a cell taken from the mother herself.
This “polar cell,” as it is called, attaches to the egg and triggers the start of cell division, leading to the creation of a fully developed embryo.
Since the polar cell also contains half of the mother’s set of genes, the offspring is almost a perfect clone of its father (taking into account mutations and copying errors).
Scientists believe Charlotte became pregnant through a process called facultative parthenogenesis, which is a type of asexual reproduction.
This process is observed in other animals such as certain birds, reptiles and snakes. Scientists have also discovered that the first known crocodile produces fertilized eggs on its own.
Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, where the Charlotte stingray is kept, says Charlotte’s pregnancy is the only example she knows of of round stingrays.
Ms Lyons says: “I’m not surprised because nature finds a way to make this happen,” she said.
‘We don’t know why it happens.
“It’s just a really interesting phenomenon that they seem to be able to do.”
And although Charlotte shares her 2,200 gallons with five small sharks, her keepers insist it would have been impossible for her to breed with them.
“We should be clear that there is no shark ray shenanigans going on here,” Ms Lyons added.
Charlotte’s offspring will contain only her genetic material, making them almost perfect copies of her.
Understanding why certain animals are capable of parthenogenesis and others are not could help us answer whether humans could ever have their own “virgin births” (file image)
Scientists still aren’t quite sure what exactly triggers virgin births or why some animals are able to do so and others are not.
But finding out would help answer whether it is possible for humans to reproduce asexually.
For a mammal to have a virgin birth, it would probably need to undergo a slightly different type of parthenogenesis.
Instead of the mother fertilizing the egg with a cell from her body, called apomixis, the egg would need to duplicate its genetic content, divide, and then recombine.
In this process, which scientists call automixis, the egg would end up with the normal number of chromosomes without the need for any additional genetic material.
However, even then there would be a one in a billion chance that the egg would begin to develop into an embryo.
Professor Russell Bonuriansky, an ecologist at the University of South Wales in Australia, told MailOnline that mammals could have evolved to make this type of reproduction impossible.
Professor Bonuriansky says: “Some animals can do this but, for some reason, most cannot.”
“It works to prevent eggs from developing into embryos inside the ovaries, which would be lethal for female mammals,” he continued.
However, scientists are investigating how to achieve asexual reproduction in mammals.
Scientists in China have even announced that they were able to achieve parthenogenesis in mice without any male genetic DNA.