Sharks Do It Better.

Sharks like it rough. Scientists have observed bite marks on female sharks that were evidently inflicted during both courting and mating rituals. Some female species have even developed thicker skin to protect themselves in the bedroom. The thing is, though sharks enjoy such liberties of the flesh, they take years to reach sexual maturity (12 years for some species) and produce a small number of offspring.

As a result, they are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing. 11, 416 sharks are killed every hour: a pace that far exceeds any species ability to reproduce. Obviously shark populations around the world are in trouble, but of particular note is that of the Mediterranean. Due to contrasting and/or conflicting laws and over-fishing the International Union for Conservation of Nature recently published a report stating that 40 percent of shark and ray species in the Mediterranean were threatened with extinction.

We can’t expect humans to do anything to resolve this looming disaster, as we have never resolved anything. However, all is not doom and gloom. In 2001, a female hammerhead, who had not had contact with a male shark for over three years, gave birth to a pup. Following three years of intensive research, and after determining the shark born lacked any paternal DNA, it was confirmed that at least some species of sharks are capable of asexual reproduction. It is not known, however, how often this behaviour occurs in nature.

Now if only female humans could perform magic like that on the regular (Mary did it once, right?), males would be given their pink slips, and our species might have a fighting chance at surviving the century.