World News Trust World News Trust
World News Trust World News Trust
  • News Portal
  • All Content
    • Edited
      • News
      • Commentary
      • Analysis
      • Advisories
      • Source
    • Flatwire
  • Topics
    • Agriculture
    • Culture
      • Arts
      • Children
      • Education
      • Entertainment
      • Food and Hunger
      • Sports
    • Disasters
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Health
    • Media
    • Science
    • Spiritual
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • War
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Americas
      • North America
      • South America
    • Antarctica
    • Arctic
    • Asia
    • Australia/Oceania
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Oceans
      • Arctic Ocean
      • Atlantic Ocean
      • Indian Ocean
      • Pacific Ocean
      • Southern Ocean
    • Space
  • World Desk
    • Submit Content
  • About Us
  • Sign In/Out
  • Register
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Russia's War and the Global Economy | Nouriel Roubini
  • U.S. Considers Radical Rethinking Of Dollar For Today's Digital World | David Gura
  • Why is Israel Amending Its Open-Fire Policy?: Three Possible Answers | Ramzy Baroud
  • WATCH: Republican National Committee Abandons America
  • ‘Previously Unknown Massacres’: Why is Israel Allowed to Own Palestinian History? | Ramzy Baroud
  • The Revolt of the Imagination, Part One: Notes on Belbury Syndrome | John Michael Greer
  • Human gut bacteria have sex to share vitamin B12 | University of California - Riverside

Breaking The Patrisharky | University of California - San Diego

More items by author
Categories
Edited | Oceans | North America | Science | Education | Culture | All Content | Front Page Stories
Tool Bar
View Comments

Sand tiger sharks mating at Georgia Aquarium. Credit: Georgia AquariumSand tiger sharks mating at Georgia Aquarium. Credit: Georgia Aquarium

 

Scientists reexamine gender biases in shark, ray mating research

 

March 4, 2021 (Phys.org) -- Shark scientists at Georgia Aquarium, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and Dalhousie University are challenging the status quo in shark and ray mating research in a new study that looks at biological drivers of multiple paternity in these animals. The results were published March 4 in the journal Molecular Ecology.

 

Many species of sharks and rays exhibit multiple paternity, where females give birth to a litter of pups that have different fathers. While widely documented in scientific literature, the drivers of this phenomenon are not well understood. However, previous research has cited male aggression as the reason, claiming that the females are unable to avoid their advances during mating. This has led to the "convenience polyandry" theory, the assumption that there is a greater cost for females when refusing male mating attempts, as being the most widely credited explanation.

 

"If convenience polyandry is the only reason we talk about, it takes the agency away from females," said Kady Lyons, research scientist at Georgia Aquarium and lead author of the study. "If she's investing all this energy into making big babies, why doesn't she get a say in who will be the sire of her offspring?"

 

While multiple paternity has been documented in many elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), this is the first study to evaluate it starting from the female point-of-view. The researchers note that most studies on shark and ray reproduction were conducted by male scientists, and their biases could manifest in their research.

 

(more)

 

READ MORE: Phys.org

back to top
  • Created
    Friday, March 05 2021
  • Last modified
    Friday, March 05 2021
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. All Content
  4. Edited
  5. Breaking The Patrisharky | University of California - San Diego
Copyright © 2022 World News Trust. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.