The immaculate conception of the Charlotte ray that has captivated marine life enthusiasts around the world now has a scientific explanation.
The stingray conceived her babies without a male partner, but experts said her pregnancy is not that uncommon and attributed it to parthenogenesis, a scientific term for a virgin birth.
Parthenogenesis is common in sharks and rays and occurs when the mammal has been isolated for long periods and effectively produces a clone of itself.
Charlotte is on display at the Aquarium & Shark Lab in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where it was previously speculated that she was impregnated by a white-spotted bamboo shark that was supposedly in the tank with her.
But experts said that’s not possible and that parthenogenesis is the most likely explanation.
Stingray experts say Charlotte’s “miraculous birth” is likely due to parthenogenesis, a scientific term for virgin birth.
Another, more unlikely scenario for Charlotte’s immaculate conception is that manta rays can carry sperm for up to a year. But she has been isolated for too long for this to be a possibility, experts say.
There is only one other possible explanation for Charlotte’s “miraculous birth,” according to Dr. Christopher Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at California State University.
“They can become pregnant without being observed mating with a male in two ways,” Lowe told Dailymail.com.
The first is that “many species of sharks and rays can store sperm for at least a year,” but he said this is unlikely because Charlotte has been alone for too long.
“It turns out that parthenogenesis is more common in sharks and rays than we previously thought, so this is the most likely explanation,” Lowe said, adding that “a rapid DNA test will confirm whether the female produces viable offspring.”
Kevin Feldheim, a researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago and an expert on parthenogenesis, told Dailymail.com that Charlotte’s case is the first time parthenogenesis has been documented in her species, making her the 15th documented species in total.
The aquarium has been broadcasting regular updates on Charlotte’s condition, saying there is no sign of the cubs yet, although an ultrasound showed she is pregnant with up to four cubs.
Researchers say Charlotte’s ultrasound shows she is pregnant with up to four puppies
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.
However, so far the team has not been able to provide a date for when Charlotte is expected to give birth, and Lowe said it is “probably because they don’t know exactly when an embryo started to develop, and we don’t know if parthenogenesis.” Requires longer gestation periods.’
Round manta rays typically have a shorter gestation period compared to other species, with their pregnancy lasting three to four months depending on water temperature.
He added that “the longer some species are kept in captivity, the more we learn about rarities like this.”
It’s difficult to know the due date because it’s difficult to determine what stage of pregnancy the line was in when she conceived, Lowe said.
Ultrasounds are usually done in late pregnancies, Lowe said, so they were only able to determine that the stingray was pregnant about a month before giving birth.
The Aquarium & Shark Lab announced Charlotte’s “miraculous birth” in a Facebook post early last month, sparking global interest in how the stingray may have conceived on her own, even going so far as to suggest she was impregnated by a shark.
The Aquarium & Shark Lab suggested that Charlotte could have been pregnant by a shark, but experts said that is impossible.
Feldheim said his assumption is that the aquarium “did that as a kind of offhand comment, but for some reason, the idea of a ray shark hybrid really took off.”
In another interview, Feldheim said NBC News That the theory that a shark impregnated the Charlotte might have propelled her story to global attention, but it has no basis in reality.
‘The divergence between sharks and rays is 350 million years. And for comparison, the divergence between humans and platypuses is 180 million years,” he told the outlet.
‘Shark scientists were not very happy with that press release. No one would even think of that as an option,” he added.
Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, said AP News The theory is impossible because the animals’ substantially different sizes mean they would not match anatomically and neither would their DNA.
A round stingray like Charlotte measures between 10 and 22 inches wide, while the white-spotted bamboo shark, which was supposedly in the tank with Charlotte, measures between 24 and 37 inches long.
“We should be clear that some shark ray shenanigans are not going on here,” Lyons told the outlet.
“There is nothing unnatural about asexual reproduction,” Mercedes Burns, a biologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, told NBC News.
“Invertebrates or fish do amazing things throughout their lives to be able to reproduce successfully.”