Who Needs Men? Pregnant Zebra Shark Has Baby Without Male Partner After Being Single For Years

It goes without saying that most species of animals cannot give birth asexually. Yet, a zebra shark, also known as a leopard shark, has proven that the species can, in fact, reproduce without the assistance of a male partner.

Leonie, a zebra shark in an Australia aquarium was confirmed to have given birth, successfully, to offspring without the help of a partner of the opposite sex, according to a study published on Scientific Reports Monday. Leonie, a resident of the Reef HQ Aquarium in Queensland, had previously lived with a male partner for about six years, from 2006 to 2012, before she was moved to a separate tank, CNN reported. After the move, she had not been with a mate for a reported three mating seasons.

The shark gave birth to a litter of three pups that hatched in April 2016, yet the reports determining whether Leonie was the sole parent of the pups were confirmed this week. Leonie is the first leopard shark ever documented to switch to asexual reproduction, according to a statement from the University of Queensland Australia.

“We thought she could be storing sperm but when we tested the pups and the possible parent sharks using DNA fingerprinting, we found they only had cells from Leonie,” Christine Dudgeon of the University of Queensland’s School of Biomedical Sciences said in the statement. Dudgeon followed and documented the findings for the aquarium.

She also noted that the findings could be huge for the conservation of the species: “This has big implications for conservation and shows us how flexible the shark’s reproductive system really is,” she said.

Other animals, typically invertebrates, can reproduce asexually. They have included Komodo dragons, some sharks, chickens, turkeys and snakes like boa constrictors, according to Live Science.