UPDATE: Charlotte the stingray has sadly passed away at the aquarium where she lived in North Carolina. Turns out, she was not pregnant and instead had a rare reproductive disease. Charlotte was presumed to be 12-16 years old, which is quite old for round stingrays who typically live between 10-12 years in the wild. [1] www.npr.org/2024/07/01/nx-s1-5025232/charlotte-the-stingray-pregnant-dies-north-carolina [2] www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/31/charlotte-the-stingray-reproductive-disease/73923031007/
Thank you, KP. I always learn so much from you. As a physics major, one thing I learned right away is that science is so much cooler than uneducated guesses people make. Science is so weird and shocking. You can choose any field, any single thing within that field, and learn some freaky, weird, fun stuff. Just pick anything at random, and go read about it.
I've commented on these silly posts about this! Thanks for the backup, there's far too much click baiting going on. I'm also a biologist so very happy to see another pro shutting this down
Supposedly, the whole “shark may be the father” thing came from a joke suggestion by one of the guys at the aquarium Charlotte lives at. Maybe a randy shark tried to get frisky with the sea pancake. More likely, they just got nippy. She’s bigger than either of the sharks. Now that she’s pregnant, she looks more like a ravioli than a pancake.
The director of this facility (with no biology training) made the claim several times in writing and on video. It was not a joke. They tried to walk it back and blame the media or say it was joke. But the record shows otherwise.
Sharks and rays haven’t shared a common ancestor since the Triassic, so the likelihood that a shark is the father is about as high as the likelihood a walrus is the father.
I saw the story on a news channel where they said both parthenogenesis and theory of the "sharkray" were possible. It didn't seem right to me so was hoping for an explanation from you.
I just found out about Charlotte about 10 minutes before your video showed up. I immediately realised it would be parthenogenesis. I hadn't heard about people's nonsensical ideas of impossible hybrids, though. Just not plugged into an array of social media platforms. Charlotte and her companions are lovely animals.
I have heard of animals that can delay pregnancy for long periods after mating until environmental conditions are suitable for gestation and birth. Maybe someone can recall these animals?
Basically all of them except humans. Kangaroos are the best examples since they are pregnant their entire life life cycle. Llamas get a shout out for, rumourly, pausing delivery because a storm came, and resuming after it passed
@@metheoneandonlyraider7220 Here's some additional info: The marsupial tammar wallaby has the longest period of embryonic diapause of any mammal. Embryonic diapause, the temporary suspension of development of the embryo, is a fascinating reproductive strategy that has been frequently exploited across the animal kingdom. It is characterized by an arrest in development that occurs at the blastocyst stage in over 130 species of mammals.
It’s funny, because even though it is a so much more obvious possibility, people have a hard time even “conceiving” of parthenogenesis . I think the traditional human binary view makes it difficult for people (especially men) to comprehend procreation without the involvement of males/sex.
When I saw this story I was sure it was between retained sperm and parthenogenesis so I was excited to see if we had a new record on the sperm thing but I was disturbed that they said she had signs that the sharks were trying to mate with her and not doing anything to stop it. I volunteer at a bunny shelter and we don’t let the unfixed male bunnies in with the fixed females because they will try to mate and it is distressing to the females so why would they let the male sharks keep distressing her is beyond me.
So annoying how there is an easy explanation but the media dummies just ran with clickbait ridiculousness instead. Thanks for setting the record straight yet again.
Thank you for this. The aquarium owner put the nonsense about the sharks possibly being the dad out there when she announced that Charlotte was pregnant (along with the possibility of parthenogenesis). I live near the aquarium, and she went on the local news to talk about it. The possibility of a hybrid makes for a good story, and gets a lot more attention.
That so strange, because parthenogenesis is so interesting on its own right. What I found interesting about this video are the different species that can reproduce through parthenogenesis. I learn something new everyday.
I am really curious why she got pregnant. Like, I know it's parthenogenesis, but why now? For example, one of my favorite species of geckos, mourning geckos, reproduce exclusively through parthenogenesis. They're all female. They do, however, need another mourning gecko there to simulate copulation in order to stimulate them to develop eggs. I kind of wonder if something similar happened with Charlotte. The sharks making an attempt to mate, whether it was successful or not, stimulated her to develop eggs, maybe?
That’s a good question! I’m not sure. Maybe some sort of water quality/temperature/sunlight parameters just randomly fell into place at the perfect time 🤷♀️
I wish you could talk to a researcher to bring this up, although I wonder if they have already considered this theory. Because a bamboo shark's and a round ray's anatomy are so different, copulation would be nearly impossible. I say nearly, because researchers are always discovering new things, and something like this may be plausible.
This is entirely possible. Stingrays are absolutely capable of storing sperm for long periods of time. The longest amount of time on record is 2 years. Charlotte hasn't been with a male in over 8 years. So while possible, it is unlikely. At the same time, this is something that is very hard to study. I assume DNA tests will be done when Charlotte gives birth. That will answer a lot of questions.
I love your scientific but easy to access input. I rank you equal to my up to now top UA-cam scientists Robert Mark Lehmann with Mission Erde and Chris Parton with Sharkbytes. They both reacted to that as well. Thank you.
I am a *little* disappointed that you showed a picture of a leopard gecko, a species that uses sexual reproduction, and not a mourning gecko, when you mentioned geckos who exclusively reproduce through parthenogenesis. It's a bit misleading. But other than that little nitpick, thank you so much for this video.
I'm sorry about that. I am not a herpetologist and reptiles are decidedly outside of my area of expertise. I know it bothers me when I see images of river otters when the content is talking about sea otters. Making things worse, the sites where I license my stock footage often mislabel their videos. For example, I constantly see images of blue whales labeled humpback whales.
Someone needs to go tell the commenters on the other posts that theres a simple explanation, cos they are going wild😂 its obviously everyones god and also magic🤣🤣🤣
Very nearly! Honestly, this is a bit outside my area of expertise but from what I understand, parthenogenesis offspring can share anywhere from 50% to 100% of their mother's DNA. It's pretty wild and I'm hopeful that Charlotte can teach us a lot more about this unique phenomenon.
This can be a little tricky because we don't know exactly when she got pregnant. We also don't know the exact gestation period for round stingrays, but it is believed to be around 3-4 months.
IF there ever is a pup, the news will show up again. They have no interest in a "nothing has changed" story. Just like they had no interest in accurately reporting the story at the beginning.
She mentioned the Aquarium of the Pacific, and I'm proud to say that I volunteer there. We keep a close eye on our bamboo sharks' eggs to see if some of them will be viable, since all of our bamboo sharks on exhibit are females and have never been with a male. It's so cool to see a "mermaid's purse" in the touch pool from time to time. The guests love seeing them, and it's a great tool to educate them about how these sharks reproduce.
![These Molecules Reversed Aging by... YEARS! [TRIIM Study Explained - Study 216]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rVoxfABoHh4/mqdefault.jpg)
UPDATE: Charlotte the stingray has sadly passed away at the aquarium where she lived in North Carolina. Turns out, she was not pregnant and instead had a rare reproductive disease. Charlotte was presumed to be 12-16 years old, which is quite old for round stingrays who typically live between 10-12 years in the wild.
[1] www.npr.org/2024/07/01/nx-s1-5025232/charlotte-the-stingray-pregnant-dies-north-carolina
[2] www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/31/charlotte-the-stingray-reproductive-disease/73923031007/
The aquarium announced tonight that Charlotte has died.
I saw this as well, thanks for reminding me to change the update.
Thank you, KP. I always learn so much from you. As a physics major, one thing I learned right away is that science is so much cooler than uneducated guesses people make. Science is so weird and shocking. You can choose any field, any single thing within that field, and learn some freaky, weird, fun stuff. Just pick anything at random, and go read about it.
I've commented on these silly posts about this! Thanks for the backup, there's far too much click baiting going on. I'm also a biologist so very happy to see another pro shutting this down
It really irks me how the click bait is basically turning into downright lies lol
Wish I had gone straight bio, biochem was so much harder…
@@KPassionateSorry but I have to give this video a dislike
@KennethV2000 Was it the science that you didn’t like? 😂
@@KPassionate what a strange thing to take personally lol.
It’s wild! I wonder if this occurs regularly in her species but we just assume it’s pregnancy due to fertilisation by the males.
So *checks notes* walruses and red pandas are the next mashup? Like "The Wuzzles"????
Supposedly, the whole “shark may be the father” thing came from a joke suggestion by one of the guys at the aquarium Charlotte lives at. Maybe a randy shark tried to get frisky with the sea pancake. More likely, they just got nippy. She’s bigger than either of the sharks.
Now that she’s pregnant, she looks more like a ravioli than a pancake.
Poor Charlotte looks so miserable. I hope she gives birth soon so she can get back her girlie, flat figure.
The director of this facility (with no biology training) made the claim several times in writing and on video. It was not a joke. They tried to walk it back and blame the media or say it was joke. But the record shows otherwise.
People are not very bright.😄👍
Sharks and rays haven’t shared a common ancestor since the Triassic, so the likelihood that a shark is the father is about as high as the likelihood a walrus is the father.
That's a theory
I saw the story on a news channel where they said both parthenogenesis and theory of the "sharkray" were possible. It didn't seem right to me so was hoping for an explanation from you.
I just found out about Charlotte about 10 minutes before your video showed up. I immediately realised it would be parthenogenesis. I hadn't heard about people's nonsensical ideas of impossible hybrids, though. Just not plugged into an array of social media platforms.
Charlotte and her companions are lovely animals.
I have heard of animals that can delay pregnancy for long periods after mating until environmental conditions are suitable for gestation and birth. Maybe someone can recall these animals?
Basically all of them except humans.
Kangaroos are the best examples since they are pregnant their entire life life cycle.
Llamas get a shout out for, rumourly, pausing delivery because a storm came, and resuming after it passed
Stotes would be one of these animals check them our they are both adorable as well as unique critters ^^
@@metheoneandonlyraider7220 Here's some additional info: The marsupial tammar wallaby has the longest period of embryonic diapause of any mammal. Embryonic diapause, the temporary suspension of development of the embryo, is a fascinating reproductive strategy that has been frequently exploited across the animal kingdom. It is characterized by an arrest in development that occurs at the blastocyst stage in over 130 species of mammals.
Cockroaches.
HARD NO! lol I love it! Thanks for helping the people understand
From the bottom of my heart Thank You!
The hard NO to interbreeding was needed.
Thanks for another informative video, KP! Rays look so graceful when they're swimming. They're on my endless favorites list. 🙂
It’s funny, because even though it is a so much more obvious possibility, people have a hard time even “conceiving” of parthenogenesis . I think the traditional human binary view makes it difficult for people (especially men) to comprehend procreation without the involvement of males/sex.
Conceiving lol. Nice one!
I don’t believe you, I’ve seen people breed that I’m sure are in different kingdoms.
😂😂😂
When I saw this story I was sure it was between retained sperm and parthenogenesis so I was excited to see if we had a new record on the sperm thing but I was disturbed that they said she had signs that the sharks were trying to mate with her and not doing anything to stop it. I volunteer at a bunny shelter and we don’t let the unfixed male bunnies in with the fixed females because they will try to mate and it is distressing to the females so why would they let the male sharks keep distressing her is beyond me.
All it takes is basic biology knowledge to know that the shark/ray thing was NOT possible 🤣
So annoying how there is an easy explanation but the media dummies just ran with clickbait ridiculousness instead. Thanks for setting the record straight yet again.
Thank you for this. The aquarium owner put the nonsense about the sharks possibly being the dad out there when she announced that Charlotte was pregnant (along with the possibility of parthenogenesis). I live near the aquarium, and she went on the local news to talk about it. The possibility of a hybrid makes for a good story, and gets a lot more attention.
That so strange, because parthenogenesis is so interesting on its own right. What I found interesting about this video are the different species that can reproduce through parthenogenesis. I learn something new everyday.
So parthenogenesis? Fascinating! Occurrences like these must drive religions absolutely crazy… will Charlotte’s babies be gods?? 😂🤦🏻♂️
Parthenogenesis is fairly common in lower life forms.
Komodo Dragons, whiptail lizards, insects, fish, it's a useful survival strategy.
I was thinking it was impossible for them to mate because of them having different chromosomes. This explanation is very thorough 😃
I am really curious why she got pregnant. Like, I know it's parthenogenesis, but why now? For example, one of my favorite species of geckos, mourning geckos, reproduce exclusively through parthenogenesis. They're all female. They do, however, need another mourning gecko there to simulate copulation in order to stimulate them to develop eggs. I kind of wonder if something similar happened with Charlotte. The sharks making an attempt to mate, whether it was successful or not, stimulated her to develop eggs, maybe?
That’s a good question! I’m not sure. Maybe some sort of water quality/temperature/sunlight parameters just randomly fell into place at the perfect time 🤷♀️
I wish you could talk to a researcher to bring this up, although I wonder if they have already considered this theory. Because a bamboo shark's and a round ray's anatomy are so different, copulation would be nearly impossible. I say nearly, because researchers are always discovering new things, and something like this may be plausible.
Amazing story KP! It makes perfect sense!!! However, I was asked to double check if Curly or Shemp could be the father to!!!!😂😂😂
Yea what about if the sperm stayed dormant!
This is entirely possible. Stingrays are absolutely capable of storing sperm for long periods of time. The longest amount of time on record is 2 years. Charlotte hasn't been with a male in over 8 years. So while possible, it is unlikely. At the same time, this is something that is very hard to study. I assume DNA tests will be done when Charlotte gives birth. That will answer a lot of questions.
Good video, KP - debunking the BS professionally and entertainingly!
I love your scientific but easy to access input. I rank you equal to my up to now top UA-cam scientists Robert Mark Lehmann with Mission Erde and Chris Parton with Sharkbytes. They both reacted to that as well. Thank you.
Thank you so much! What a wonderful compliment 😊
I am a *little* disappointed that you showed a picture of a leopard gecko, a species that uses sexual reproduction, and not a mourning gecko, when you mentioned geckos who exclusively reproduce through parthenogenesis. It's a bit misleading. But other than that little nitpick, thank you so much for this video.
I'm sorry about that. I am not a herpetologist and reptiles are decidedly outside of my area of expertise. I know it bothers me when I see images of river otters when the content is talking about sea otters. Making things worse, the sites where I license my stock footage often mislabel their videos. For example, I constantly see images of blue whales labeled humpback whales.
Wonderfully educational video. Among all of the valuable, informative things in the media and on the internet, there is some real rubbish.
FINALLY a clear answer
I missed these videos! Ty for clearing that up! ❤
Is there an update on this story? Has she given birth? I haven't seen any news on it in the last month.
I also have not seen an update on this story. But if I do we will make a post about it!
She is not pregnant it was a "rare genetic reproductive condition"
Someone needs to go tell the commenters on the other posts that theres a simple explanation, cos they are going wild😂 its obviously everyones god and also magic🤣🤣🤣
That last pic of your Sharkray was so awesome that now I’m dying to watch that movie 😱 so mean😖
Don't forget about mourning geckos that have to be parthenogenic because they have no males.
To be fair a hybrid between a red panda and a walrus would be both terrifying and adorable. As long as the walrus is female
My mourning geckos disagree with the shark theory
NEVER believe facts from nameless, faceless social medias.
better name one of them baby rays jesus pronounced hey-zues
They better get the sharks out so she can or will give birth
Poor charlotte she lived a good long life
Now I need to get a baby shark and name it Ray so I can make the news real...sort of. 🤓
Baja California Península, not Baja, por favor. ¡Gracias!
Thanks! I'll do better next time.
So Charlotte is cloning herself. ❤
Very nearly! Honestly, this is a bit outside my area of expertise but from what I understand, parthenogenesis offspring can share anywhere from 50% to 100% of their mother's DNA. It's pretty wild and I'm hopeful that Charlotte can teach us a lot more about this unique phenomenon.
so if its parthenogenesis or not we will see when the baby stingray\s is actually born
I’ll save you the time. It is parthenogenesis. There is no other option
Wish i could do that.
Virgin stingray birth
SHARKRAY!!!!
Awww I'm excited for it to give birth seeing a sting shark for the first time. Thanks for the information
“It’s a actually a Stark Ray fyi” lol all jokes
Shark:”I’m not the father! That could be any shark!”
Where is the News on this after so much time? I’d rather hear the news about this instead of all the other stuff going on in the world.
This can be a little tricky because we don't know exactly when she got pregnant. We also don't know the exact gestation period for round stingrays, but it is believed to be around 3-4 months.
IF there ever is a pup, the news will show up again. They have no interest in a "nothing has changed" story. Just like they had no interest in accurately reporting the story at the beginning.
Wait, who would be the top for that Red Panda/Walrus matchup 😮
are you telling me we have a jesus stingray
I love how their names being Larry and Moe was important info. 😂 very much agree.
She mentioned the Aquarium of the Pacific, and I'm proud to say that I volunteer there. We keep a close eye on our bamboo sharks' eggs to see if some of them will be viable, since all of our bamboo sharks on exhibit are females and have never been with a male. It's so cool to see a "mermaid's purse" in the touch pool from time to time. The guests love seeing them, and it's a great tool to educate them about how these sharks reproduce.
Even humans can reduplicate by parthenogenesis. At least there is a report of one incident around 2000 years ago.
Yeah for sure that didn’t happen 😂
@@KPassionate But Millions believe it happened.
@@ghlscitel6714 I know. So sad
Since the offspring was male, there must have been a human Y chromosome introduced by someone!
@@callmelenny Except if you present an X for a Y.
Some lizards produce parthenogenetic offspring, however, only male ones have been observed so far.
Good video, but the background music is so loud it's distracting in a few parts
I recenty learned that some birds can do thst too! So cool!