But my faith in love is still devout.

Shark Embryos Eat Each Other In The Womb

Sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) usually only give birth to two babies, but they can carry as many as 12 embryos in their womb. It was known for decades that about five months into the typical 12-month pregnancy, the largest embryo would begin to devour all but one of its littermates, but scientists couldn’t figure out why.

It turns out that this bloody, in-womb carnage is the mother’s fault, because by mating with multiple males, she’s set in motion an all-out paternity war.

In 2013, a team of marine biologists led by Demian Chapman from Stony Brook University in the US decided to investigate, analysing the embryos of 15 sand tiger shark mothers at various stages of development. The sharks had accidentally gotten themselves caught up in safety nets and died. DNA tests revealed that in the later stages of pregnancy, it was more likely that whichever few embryos were remaining had just one father. This means that the father who sired the biggest, strongest embryo competes with other males at passing on his genes and wins. (Source)

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