A Komodo dragon has laid fertile eggs that hatched into male baby lizards at Chester Zoo in England. This process is called parthenogenesis, in which offspring are produced without fertilization by a male.
The offspring of such virgin births are all male, because of the genetics involved in self-fertilization in lizards. When the offspring reach sexual maturity, the mother can reproduce with her own sons, and it will be back to a sexually reproducing population.
The unusual process is most commonly known in smaller invertebrates, such as aphids and zooplankton. But it is occasionally recorded in much larger animals, including some reptiles and amphibians.
Other recorded species that have done this are turkeys, pythons and fishes.
Read the whole story at Natgeo
5 responses so far ↓
Dawkins on Komodo Dragon’s Virgin Birth | Evolution Diary // Dec 24, 2006 at 2:48 am
[…] Original news story about the Komodo dragon virgin birth […]
Guillaume // Feb 14, 2007 at 4:30 pm
“The offspring of such virgin births are all male”
How come? Their DNA shall be the same as their mother’s, including the sexing part of the genome. Am I wrong somewhere?
G.
admin // Feb 17, 2007 at 2:39 am
The reproduction method used might be Selfing as proposed by Richard Dawkins.
Read about that in a subsequent post here.
http://evolutiondiary.com/2006/12/24/dawkins-on-komodo-dragons-virgin-birth/
60s Music // Feb 18, 2007 at 4:32 am
We should worship these dragons. They are CLEARLY the new messiah(s)!! Glory to the Dragon King, born of a virgin!!
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