How does this all-female species reproduce?

475,944 plays|

Susan Freitas, Darren Parker |

TED-Ed

• April 2023

In 2021, workers at a Sardinian aquarium were stunned by the birth of a smooth-hound shark. What was shocking was that, for the last decade, the shark's mother had been living only with other females. So, how was this birth possible? And can other species reproduce this way? Susana Freitas and Darren Parker explore the phenomenon of asexual reproduction known as parthenogenesis. [Directed by Petya Zlateva, Compote Collective, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by BigBanda SoundScapers].