Scientists find evidence of sawfish reproduction through virgin births

Sawfish
(Image credit: Creative Commons/Guillaume Baviere)

It's not just Jurassic Park: Scientists have found evidence of parthenogenesis in sawfish.

Researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission used DNA fingerprinting to show that three percent of a Florida sawfish population was created by female-only reproduction. The findings, described in the journal Current Biology, suggest that sawfish have saved their species from extinction by reproducing without male input.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.