New ultrasound shows inside of a stingray who got pregnant with no other mates in her tank
A stingray in America is continuing to baffle just about everyone after she managed to get pregnant with no mates in the tank.
Charlotte the stingray has had no males in her tank for eight years, but somehow managed to fall pregnant.
In September 2023, staff at The Aquarium and Shark Lab in North Carolina became concerned after they noticed swelling around Charlotte's abdomen.
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The experts carried out an ultrasound, but shockingly found out that Charlotte was actually pregnant.
Fast forward a few months and Charlotte is set to give birth at any time.
But how it happened is still a bit of a head-scratcher.
The first wonder was whether one of the male sharks she shared the tank with briefly had managed to impregnate her, but those claims have been ultimately dismissed.
Now, The Aquarium and Shark Lab have shared an update about Charlotte's condition - and they've even revealed a snap of the ultrasound.
The team explained that there is no set time frame for how long the pregnancy should last, so when the stingray will actually give birth is a bit of a waiting game.
They said that she's definitely pregnant with at least one pup, and shared a clip of the ultrasound, which you can watch below.
That definitely looks like a stingray's tail, right?
Staff at the aquarium plan to carry out DNA tests following the birth to see if they carry the genes of a mystery father, but they expect that it will return no new revelations.
Scientists explained that what happened to Charlotte is rare but not impossible, with the phenomenon known as parthenogenesis.
Known as a form of asexual reproduction, it is when a female of the species can produce an embryo, despite the absence of sperm fertilising her eggs.
Essentially, an egg fuses with a cell in the mother's body, triggering cell division and leading to an embryo, making tiny clones.
Just another impressive feat from the female species, eh?
For those who think Charlotte could be set to give birth to a shark, this theory has now been quashed.
Research scientist Kady Lyons told the Daily Mail that there wouldn't be a shark-stingray hybrid on the way.
She said: "We don't know why it happens. Just that it's kind of this really neat phenomenon that they seem to be able to do.
"We should set the record straight that there aren't some shark-ray shenanigans happening here."
We're wishing Charlotte a safe delivery.
Topics: Animals
Lucy Devine