WOW!!! Another Miracle
Five Komodo Dragons Born to 'Virgin' Mother
By ROB HARRIS
AP
MANCHESTER, England (Jan. 24) - A British zoo announced Wednesday the virgin birth of five Komodo dragons, giving scientists new hope for the captive breeding of the endangered species.
In an evolutionary twist, the newborns' eight-year-old mother Flora shocked staff at Chester Zoo in northern England when she became pregnant without ever having a male partner or even being exposed to the opposite sex.
"Flora is oblivious to the excitement she has caused but we are delighted to say she is now a mum and dad," said a delighted Kevin Buley, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates.
The shells began cracking last week, after an eight-month gestation period, which culminated with the arrival on Tuesday of the fifth black and yellow colored dragon.
The dragons are between 15.5 and 17.5 inches and weigh between 3.5 and 5.3 ounces, said Buley, who leads the zoo's expert care team.
He said the reptiles are in good health and enjoying a diet of crickets and locusts.
Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon. (COMMENT BY HAIRY: Ha. It's been documented in humans a couple of times. Read some mythology.)
The evolutionary breakthrough could have far-reaching consequences for endangered species.
Captive breeding could ensure the survival of the world's largest lizards, with fewer than 4,000 Komodos left in the wild.
Scientists hope the discovery will pave the way to finding other species capable of self fertilization.
While it wasn't unusual for female dragons to lay eggs without mating, scientists understood they were witnessing something important when they realized Flora's eggs had been fertilized.
DNA paternity tests confirmed the lack of male input, although the brood are not exact clones of their mother.
Parthenogenesis - where eggs become embryos without male fertilization - had only been noted once before in a Komodo dragon. Genetic tests showed that Sungai, a resident of London Zoo, was the sole parent to offspring last April.
By ROB HARRIS
AP
MANCHESTER, England (Jan. 24) - A British zoo announced Wednesday the virgin birth of five Komodo dragons, giving scientists new hope for the captive breeding of the endangered species.
In an evolutionary twist, the newborns' eight-year-old mother Flora shocked staff at Chester Zoo in northern England when she became pregnant without ever having a male partner or even being exposed to the opposite sex.
"Flora is oblivious to the excitement she has caused but we are delighted to say she is now a mum and dad," said a delighted Kevin Buley, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates.
The shells began cracking last week, after an eight-month gestation period, which culminated with the arrival on Tuesday of the fifth black and yellow colored dragon.
The dragons are between 15.5 and 17.5 inches and weigh between 3.5 and 5.3 ounces, said Buley, who leads the zoo's expert care team.
He said the reptiles are in good health and enjoying a diet of crickets and locusts.
Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon. (COMMENT BY HAIRY: Ha. It's been documented in humans a couple of times. Read some mythology.)
The evolutionary breakthrough could have far-reaching consequences for endangered species.
Captive breeding could ensure the survival of the world's largest lizards, with fewer than 4,000 Komodos left in the wild.
Scientists hope the discovery will pave the way to finding other species capable of self fertilization.
While it wasn't unusual for female dragons to lay eggs without mating, scientists understood they were witnessing something important when they realized Flora's eggs had been fertilized.
DNA paternity tests confirmed the lack of male input, although the brood are not exact clones of their mother.
Parthenogenesis - where eggs become embryos without male fertilization - had only been noted once before in a Komodo dragon. Genetic tests showed that Sungai, a resident of London Zoo, was the sole parent to offspring last April.
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Some species of lizards are unisexual. Reproduction is through parthenogenesis. They don't need males! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by chollagardens
Some species of lizards are unisexual. Reproduction is through parthenogenesis. They don't need males!
According to my ex, no female does. [:(!]0 -
Spider- Oh sure- but when it's time to move the sofa..... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
Spider- Oh sure- but when it's time to move the sofa.....
you sure about that?[:0][}:)][:D]0 -
If I remember correctly something I read many years ago, there is at least one species of the genus Cnemidophorus (a lizard) of which no males are known to exist. The species survives through parthenogenesis.
The most commonly seen representative, around here anyway, of the Cnemidophorus genus is the six-lined racerunner, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus, a really fast-running lizard common in the South.
Did you not see Jurassic Park? The female dinosaurs managed to reproduce, and that wasn't just movie BS. It happens. Life finds a way.0 -
The parthenogentic Cnemidophorus are not your usual lizards however. The all female population are triploid or quadruploid, having either three or four sets of genes. They result from interspecies hybridization events between species whose genetics don't quite mesh.
The Kdragons may or may not be the result of parthenogenesis. They are not clones (genetically identical to) their dam. That leads me to suspect that they are not the result of parthenogenesis, but of polar body fertilization. During meiosis the normal gentic content of gametes (sex cells, remember HS biology) is halved so that one half the genes are provided by the sire and half by the dam. When meiosis occurs to create an ovum with half the normal genes a "polar body" is also created which carries genetic material, but no yolk. there are known cases of an ovum or ova being fertilized by polar bodies. In rattlesnakes this results in male offspring. It will be interesting to see what sexes these monitors are. They are pretty cool, but essentially useless to breeding programs.0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
The parthenogentic Cnemidophorus are not your usual lizards however. The all female population are triploid or quadruploid, having either three or four sets of genes. They result from interspecies hybridization events between species whose genetics don't quite mesh.
The Kdragons may or may not be the result of parthenogenesis. They are not clones (genetically identical to) their dam. That leads me to suspect that they are not the result of parthenogenesis, but of polar body fertilization. During meiosis the normal gentic content of gametes (sex cells, remember HS biology) is halved so that one half the genes are provided by the sire and half by the dam. When meiosis occurs to create an ovum with half the normal genes a "polar body" is also created which carries genetic material, but no yolk. there are known cases of an ovum or ova being fertilized by polar bodies. In rattlesnakes this results in male offspring. It will be interesting to see what sexes these monitors are. They are pretty cool, but essentially useless to breeding programs.
Wouldn't that make the offspring infertile?0 -
Why would it, they have a full genetic complement, it just comes from the mother. In these cases with reptiles at least, either they have WV sex genes not XY or they have temperature dependant sex determination (TDS). 0 -
Whooda' thunk it?
JM[?]0 -
I only have one lizard to care about and he is dormant right now...or at least until the wife gets home.[:0][:D][:D][:D] 0 -
Is that the one she calls Shorty?[}:)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bgjohn
Whooda' thunk it?
JM[?]
Can I join you?! [:D]0 -
If it is a 'virgin' birth, wont the offspring be exact clones of the parent?
Or is there a chance of mutation as I think an insufficient genepool would harm the species.
I know some fish actually can change sex (for real) as opposed to look-alikes on jerry springer.
I believe there is also some species of geico and wasps that can have 'virgin' egg laying births if they are not in a presence of a male. However since they are exact clones, a disease would wipe them all out and not just pick and choose from a more broad dna pool.0 -
Remember the tremor 'graboids'. They were hermaphrodites like some real earthworms that are like this, but unlike 'graboids' I believe that they have specialized organs to keep from fertilizing themselves.
I wonder even with hermaphrodites, if they can be pregnant and still paly the role of a 'male' at the same time, or do they tend to lean to one or the other.0 -
If you mean hermaphroditic humans, they are almost always sterile. 0 -
OH....MY...It's SHE-MAN, Master of the Universe!!
quote:Originally posted by dongizmo
quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
Spider- Oh sure- but when it's time to move the sofa.....
you sure about that?[:0][}:)][:D]0
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