26th
January
2007
Baby Komodo Born Without Mating!
posted in Amazing Facts, Animal Species |
The baby komodo in the picture is a product of a virgin birth, this baby komodo dragon is one of five hatchlings that had made their appearance at the Chester Zoo in England this week.
Their mother, Flora, never had a mate and instead it reproduced asexually. This is the second recorded incidence of asexual reproduction in a female komodo dragon, the other birth took place in April 2006 at the London Zoo. Two more of Flora’s eggs are yet to hatch.
The interesting element of such a birth is that the offspring’s of such virgin births are all male, because of the genetics involved in self-fertilization in lizards.