The Associated Press reported that a bonnethead shark was recently born at the Henry Doorly Zoo, in Omaha, Neb., but something seems to have been missing from the process 'a male shark.
The shark was born in a tank that contained only females, leaving zoo officials scratching their heads as to how one became pregnant.
\If we solve this mystery, it's going to be one of the most interesting scientific papers in a long time,"" zoo director Lee Simmons said.
The offspring died within hours of birth.
Veterinarians conducted DNA tests on all the bonnethead sharks, but results may not be known for weeks.
""With DNA fingerprinting, we can use it to trace the paternity of the dead shark,"" Simmons said. ""We'll know for sure who the animal is related to.""
The zoo consulted shark experts across the world, but Simmons said they also are baffled.
Some have theorized the mother shark had retained sperm from an earlier impregnation, but Simmons doesn't buy it. The three-year-old female who gave birth came to the zoo as a baby and would have been too young to carry sperm cells, he said.
""Unless it's some kind of virgin birth, I don't know,"" Simmons said. ""Without a male, you can't have a birth. But Mother Nature doesn't necessarily abide by the rules.\
