Stingray that got pregnant despite no male companion has died, aquarium says
![Stingray that got pregnant despite no male companion has died, aquarium says](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/ec8d2b48-3928-4323-8c26-322cf87fb965/wirestory_a1f937173c816eb25ad98e04037148ca_16x9.jpg?w=1600)
Stingray that got pregnant despite no male companion has died, aquarium says
A North Carolina aquarium says a stingray that got pregnant this winter despite not having shared a tank with a male of her species for many years has died
ByThe Associated Press
July 1, 2024, 12:33 PM
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. -- A stingray that got pregnant at a North Carolina aquarium this winter despite not having shared a tank with a male of her species for many years has died.
The Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville said on Facebook late Sunday that the stingray, Charlotte, died after getting a rare reproductive disease. It didn't go into further detail.
The aquarium, which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, announced in February that Charlotte had gotten pregnant despite not having shared a tank with a male stingray in at least eight years. But it said in late May that she was suffering from a rare reproductive disease and announced in early June that she hadn't given birth and was no longer pregnant.
The pregnancy was thought to be the result of a type of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis, in which offspring develop from unfertilized eggs, meaning there is no genetic contribution by a male. The mostly rare phenomenon can occur in some insects, fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles, but not in mammals. Documented examples have included California condors, Komodo dragons and yellow-bellied water snakes.