Conceiving a child from 2 to 16 years of age without having contact with a man
The first crocodile to experience the miracle of virgin birth was held at the Parque Reptilandia zoo in Costa Rica.18 year old female American Alligator (Crocodylus acutus)in.
Since 2002, when this crocodile was two years old, he was rescued by the zoo.Raised separately from other alligators for 16 yearsIt has been done.
Her pregnancy and egg laying were confirmed in January 2018.
She laid a total of 14 eggs, according to the keepers, but they opened them after three months because they did not hatch after the usual period.
Seven of them were found to be viable, but the other six were poorly developed embryos and could not be identified as alligators.
In addition, the remaining one was growing as a fetus, but unfortunately it was stillborn.
Egg-laying female crocodiles have had no contact with males since they were two years old, so keepers believe this is “parthenogenesis,” an evolution of Virginia Tech, an expert in the field. We asked the biologist Warren Booth investigated.
Unlike sexual reproduction, where males and females mate, in parthenogenetic reproduction, females only produce offspring.The child born is essentially a clone of the mothercoming.
And as a result of Mr.’s analysis. Booth of the stillborn fetus,99.9% identical to the mother’s alligator geneIt turns out.
In other words, this fetus has no father,This has been proven to be the world’s first crocodile parthenogenesisIt is.
Offspring born from other eggs are also seen as clones of the mother crocodile.
Species that can reproduce sexually rarely reproduce only with females.
Because in parthenogenesis,Lack of male DNA integration leads to less genetic diversity and susceptibility to various diseasesHe is
However, parthenogenesis basically occurs when there are no males around to mate.
Therefore, in previous reports, it tends to be common in captive animals that have no contact with males, as in this case.
However, there are sharks that have gotten a virgin pregnant while they have a male nearby.
It has been confirmed that a tiger shark had a “virgin birth” while a man was nearby!
Until a decade ago, parthenogenetic reproduction was thought to be extremely rare, but in the last few decades, when DNA analysis became possible, it has become clear that it is a widely observed phenomenon in nature.
The virgin conception has beenOver 80 species including birds, fish, lizards, snakes, sharks, rays and moreis confirmed by
Dinosaurs were able to get a virgin pregnant?!
“The fact that parthenogenesis can be seen in many species suggests that the breeding method is very old and a trait that has been inherited over time,” says Booth.
In particular, the addition of crocodiles to the list of species capable of virgin conception is interesting.
This is because archosaurs, which include modern birds and crocodiles, can be traced back to dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
From here Mr Booth“The fact that crocodiles and birds, the survivors of the apes, can reproduce parthenogenetically suggests that dinosaurs and pterosaurs may have reproduced in the same way.”point out.
In Steven Spielberg’s classic film “Jurassic Park” (1993), only female dinosaurs were made so that the dinosaurs revived by DNA manipulation would not breed and multiply on their own.
However, the main characters find dinosaur eggs one after another in the park where only females should be.
Maybe this wasn’t just a myth, it was actually a viable breeding method when males weren’t around.
In other words, if you borrow the famous line of Dr. Malcolm in the play“Life finds a way”That’s why.
