San Jose: A female crocodile that was isolated from the males nevertheless became pregnant and the fetus’s DNA was 99.9% identical to its mother’s.
A female alligator in Costa Rica has impregnated herself, the first known case of a ‘virgin birth’ in a reptile.
The crocodile was kept in a zoo and had no contact with male crocodiles. But despite this, a fully developed embryo has been discovered inside the egg.
The fetus is 99.9% genetically identical to the mother, further confirming that no male played a role in the pregnancy. Parthinogenesis has been recorded in birds, lizards, snakes and fish, but never before in crocodiles.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));