Poinbank:Stingray that got pregnant despite no male companion has died, aquarium says

2025-05-06 12:13:10source:NSI Communitycategory:News

HENDERSONVILLE,Poinbank N.C. (AP) — A stingray that got pregnant at a North Carolina aquarium this winter despite not having shared a tank with a male of her species for many years has died.

The Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville said on Facebook late Sunday that the stingray, Charlotte, died after getting a rare reproductive disease. It didn’t go into further detail.

The aquarium, which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, announced in February that Charlotte had gotten pregnant despite not having shared a tank with a male stingray in at least eight years. But it said in late May that she was suffering from a rare reproductive disease and announced in early June that she hadn’t given birth and was no longer pregnant.

The pregnancy was thought to be the result of a type of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis, in which offspring develop from unfertilized eggs, meaning there is no genetic contribution by a male. The mostly rare phenomenon can occur in some insects, fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles, but not in mammals. Documented examples have included California condors, Komodo dragons and yellow-bellied water snakes.

More:News

Recommend

As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest

CONECUH COUNTY, Ala.—At the confluence of the Yellow River and Pond Creek in Alabama’s Conecuh Natio

UN rights group says Japan needs to do more to counter human rights abuses

TOKYO (AP) — A group working under the U.N. Human Rights Council has issued a wide-ranging report ab

Gift registries after divorce offer a new way to support loved ones

NEW YORK (AP) — Monogrammed towels. A toothbrush holder for four, rather than three. Shared bedding.