Virgin births are the results from Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis: a form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo grows and develops without fertilization.
The smalltooth sawfish from southern Florida have been discovered to reproduce through parthenogenesis - 3% of sawfish studied were a result of this process as they contained only genetic material from their mother and no genetic contribution from a male. This means that all offspring from parthenogenesis are female.
“In normal sexual reproduction, the female egg ejects half its chromosomes through a series of cell divisions after it matures, making up the difference by combining with the chromosomes from the male sperm. In parthenogenesis, another female cell known as the polar body provides the second half of chromosomes. Although the offspring will have two sets of chromosomes, they will be identical.” – Mental_flossThis may be a response due to the dwindling population as results from over fishing. The smalltooth sawfish was put on the endangered species list in 2003, as the male scarcity of sawfish may have prompted the switch to parthenogenesis. However, this process would not help if the male sawfish population does not increase in response to the increase in females.
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