According to Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium, Charlotte’s pregnancy marks the first known instance of a round stingray becoming pregnant through parthenogenesis. Charlotte, a California round stingray, grabbed national attention when Team ECCO staff revealed that she had been pregnant for eight years without any male stingray in the tank.
Team ECCO’s Aquarium and Shark Lab, situated on Main Street, has been actively updating the public on Charlotte the stingray’s unusual asexual pregnancy through its social media channels twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, the latest update on Saturday, March 30, once again confirmed that Charlotte has not yet given birth to any pups.
Charlotte, a California round stingray, grabbed national attention when Team ECCO staff revealed that she had been pregnant for eight years without any male stingray in the tank. The staff attributed this unique phenomenon to parthenogenesis, a process where females can produce embryos without fertilizing eggs with sperm.
According to Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium, Charlotte’s pregnancy marks the first known instance of a round stingray becoming pregnant through parthenogenesis. While the average gestation period for stingrays is typically three to four months, there is no available data on the gestation period for a parthenogenetic pregnancy, as highlighted in Team ECCO’s March 30 Instagram update.
According to Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium, Charlotte’s pregnancy marks the first known instance of a round stingray becoming pregnant through parthenogenesis. While the average gestation period for stingrays is typically three to four months, there is no available data on the gestation period for a parthenogenetic pregnancy, as highlighted in Team ECCO’s March 30 Instagram update.