Is a Stingray Pregnant by a Shark? Marine Biologist Explains!
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- #shark #stingray #kpassionate
Charlotte the stingray is pregnant even though she hasn’t lived with a male stingray in over eight years. She does live with two male sharks. Is one of them the father? Is Charlotte the stingray pregnant by a shark? The truth is even wilder.
00:00 - Can a Shark Get a Stingray Pregnant?
00:40 - Charlotte the Stingray
01:39 - Stingray Pregnant by Shark
02:52 - Can Stingrays Impregnate Themselves?
03:42 - Parthenogenesis
04:24 - KPassionate
UPDATE: Charlotte is not pregnant. She apparently has a rare reproductive disease. Charlotte is 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.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Many have pointed out that sharks and rays are closely related. They are all cartilaginous fish in the Elasmobranch subclass. Since they’re closely related… can they interbreed? Could Larry or Moe be the father of Charlotte’s litter? The answer is no. And not an “unlikely” or “probably not” kind of soft no that leaves the door open to speculation. It’s a hard no. A slam the door shut, lock it, and throw away the key kind of no.
Yes, sharks and rays are closely related. About as closely related as walruses are to red pandas. Or sea otters are to polar bears. They are in the same subclass but they’re in different orders, families, genus, and species. It would be just as impossible for a round stingray and a bamboo shark to mate as it would be for a walrus and a red panda. Their anatomy simply does not match up and neither does their DNA. They even have different methods of reproduction. Round stingrays are viviparous, meaning they give live birth, while bamboo sharks are oviparous which means they lay eggs.
But if Larry and Moe aren’t the fathers… Who is? The answer is no one. Charlotte became pregnant through a form of asexual reproduction known as parthenogenesis… which is Greek for “Virgin Creation.” This is when embryos develop directly from an egg without any male fertilization. Parthenogenesis is a really cool phenomenon that occurs naturally in some species. Including bees, scorpions, and other invertebrates. As well as reptiles like snakes and Komodo dragons. And, of course, it’s been documented in fish like hammerhead sharks, blacktip sharks, and even whitespotted bamboo sharks like Larry and Moe.
There are even some animals who reproduce exclusively through asexual means like parthenogenesis. Examples include salamanders and geckos.
Parthenogenesis has been documented in over 80 other species. But this is the first time it’s been recorded in round stingrays like Charlotte. And honestly… it’s a shame that we’re not really talking about it. Instead, we’re talking about pseudoscience and shark-ray hybrid nonsense.
Cited Sources
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthen...
[2] www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
[3] academic.oup.com/biolreprod/a...
[4] www.cbsnews.com/news/female-s...
[5] www.charlotteobserver.com/new...
[6] bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/first-lo...
[7] www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...
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UPDATE: Charlotte is not pregnant. She apparently has a rare reproductive disease. Charlotte is 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.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/31/charlotte-the-stingray-reproductive-disease/73923031007/
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 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'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.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks for another informative video, KP! Rays look so graceful when they're swimming. They're on my endless favorites list. 🙂
From the bottom of my heart Thank You!
The hard NO to interbreeding was needed.
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.
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.
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 missed these videos! Ty for clearing that up! ❤
HARD NO! lol I love it! Thanks for helping the people understand
Good video, KP - debunking the BS professionally and entertainingly!
FINALLY a clear answer
Parthenogenesis is fairly common in lower life forms.
Komodo Dragons, whiptail lizards, insects, fish, it's a useful survival strategy.
Wonderfully educational video. Among all of the valuable, informative things in the media and on the internet, there is some real rubbish.
I don’t believe you, I’ve seen people breed that I’m sure are in different kingdoms.
😂😂😂
Amazing story KP! It makes perfect sense!!! However, I was asked to double check if Curly or Shemp could be the father to!!!!😂😂😂
That last pic of your Sharkray was so awesome that now I’m dying to watch that movie 😱 so mean😖
Awww I'm excited for it to give birth seeing a sting shark for the first time. Thanks for the information
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.
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.
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.
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
I was thinking it was impossible for them to mate because of them having different chromosomes. This explanation is very thorough 😃
All it takes is basic biology knowledge to know that the shark/ray thing was NOT possible 🤣
So *checks notes* walruses and red pandas are the next mashup? Like "The Wuzzles"????
Wait, who would be the top for that Red Panda/Walrus matchup 😮
I recenty learned that some birds can do thst too! So cool!
NEVER believe facts from nameless, faceless social medias.
Good video, but the background music is so loud it's distracting in a few parts
“It’s a actually a Stark Ray fyi” lol all jokes
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"
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 😊
Now I need to get a baby shark and name it Ray so I can make the news real...sort of. 🤓
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!
So parthenogenesis? Fascinating! Occurrences like these must drive religions absolutely crazy… will Charlotte’s babies be gods?? 😂🤦🏻♂️
Wish i could do that.
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
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.
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.
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.
are you telling me we have a jesus stingray
They better get the sharks out so she can or will give birth
Baja California Península, not Baja, por favor. ¡Gracias!
Thanks! I'll do better next time.
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.
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.
SHARKRAY!!!!
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🤣🤣🤣
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.
Don't forget about mourning geckos that have to be parthenogenic because they have no males.
better name one of them baby rays jesus pronounced hey-zues
People are not very bright.😄👍
Virgin stingray birth
I hate thia video so much. We will see if we get a Stingray Shark hybrid soon and you will be very wrong of course. 😂
Still feeling that way? What will it take to change your mind. If you met a woman that said she was 18 months pregnant and everything was normal but she had not been to a doctor, would you agree?