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Just in Time for Christmas, Scientists Discover Real "Virgin Birth"
Posted on Sun Dec 24 2006
Source: 'Virgin births' for giant lizards. BBC News, December 20. What do you think? |
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Two Komodo dragons have apparently learned to live without a man. Sungai, one of the two giant lizards, produced eggs that hatched four live young earlier this year. The other, Flora, is waiting for her clutch of eight eggs to hatch. Flora also produced three eggs that did not survive, allowing scientists to perform genetic tests verifying that Flora's offspring are hers alone. Flora has never been kept with a male Komodo dragon, although Sungai mated with a male and produced young more than two years ago. The phenomenon of "virgin birth," called parthenogenesis by scientsts, was previously believed to be very rare in vertebrates. The coincidence of Flora and Sungai's happy events may mean that parthenogenesis is more common than scientists thought.