Baby Shark Mysteriously Born in Tank With No Males

When a mommy shark and a daddy shark love each other very much, sometimes they decide to have a baby shark. But sometimes when a lady shark is just chillin' with her girlfriend shark, and no dude sharks in sight, the lady shark mysteriously becomes a mommy shark. As KSLA reports, such is the curious tale of the Shreveport Aquarium's newest and most unexpected resident, a baby swell shark who hatched earlier this month. The vexing part: There were only two female sharks in the tank, and neither had exposure to male sharks for more than three-plus years. Aquarium staff noticed the egg on the floor of the tank eight months earlier, reports KTAL, though they say it could've been there longer. Swell sharks have a gestation period of between 9 and 12 months.

There are a couple of theories as to what happened: One is a rare form of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis, and the other is that very delayed fertilization occurred long after mama shark was last in the company of males. DNA analysis a few months down the road when the baby shark is older should clear things up. Regardless, the pup—dubbed Yoko for the Chumash word for shark—is healthy and thriving. "This situation is incredible and shows the resilience of this species," says Greg Barrick, the aquarium's curator of live animals, in a statement. "We are very excited in the coming months to confirm whether this was indeed a case of parthenogenesis or if it was delayed fertilization. It really proves that life... uh... finds a way." (Parthenogenesis has happened before.)