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Maybe female could live without males , at least for Komodo dragon . These behemoth of the reptilian world can grow child without fertilization by a male , scientists of late disclose .
Currently at London ’s Chester Zoo , one mother - to - be discover Flora [ image ] is waiting for her eight materialization to hatch , each one the result of a mental process call parthenogeny – or a virtuous conception .
A baby Komodo dragon hatches from an egg produced asexually at the London Zoo.
" Parthenogenesis has never been documented inKomodo dragonsbefore now , so this is absolutely a humanity first , " say co - researcher Kevin Buley of Chester Zoo .
No sperm cell need
Parthenogenesis , in which an unimpregnated egg develop to maturity , has been bump in 70 species of vertebrate , let in absorbed snakes and a reminder lizard coinage . In most of these reptile typeface , this unconscious process is their only method of reproduction .
In some whiptail lizard lizards , male person have become fairly of an accessory , and all individuals are female . The type of asexual facts of life in whiptail lizard lizards generates all - distaff offspring .
The Komodo flying lizard , turns out , can do both : they can reproduce sexually or asexually depending on their environmental conditions . At most menagerie , female live alone and are kept separate from other dragon .
Magic flying dragon
In May of this yr , Flora place 25 eggs , of which 11 were viable . The zookeepers knew Flora had played both ma and crop up as soon as they confirmed her bollock were fertile . That ’s because Flora had never come into liaison with a manly dragon while at the zoo .
Three of the developing testis cave in during incubation , supply embryonic material for testing this possibility . The zoo stave work with Phillip Watts of Liverpool University to stockpile out familial psychoanalysis of the collapsed eggs .
" This paternity test confirmed that all the genetic stuff in the orchis had hail from Flora and that she was indeed both the female parent and the father of the developing testicle , " Buley toldLiveScience .
Egg - cellent
Both males and female carry out meiosis in which cells divide to form the various sex activity cells , spermor egg . In females , meiosis produces four egg - primogenitor cell , one of which becomes theeggwhile the other three typically get reabsorbed by the female ’s body . For Flora , one of the extra cell acted like a foster sperm and fertilized the ball cell , excuse Buley .
The one - parent event result in offspring curb the same inherited cloth as their female parent . Flora ’s infant firedrake will not be her clones , however , because there is genetic shuffling going on during the egg output microscope stage , Buley said .
For instance , not all copies ofgenesare indistinguishable and each factor has an alternative form . If a soul has two " alleles " for blond hair she would show a head of sunny haircloth , but if one allelomorph was for blonde and the other for dark brown , the mortal could show up a brunette . The same make process occurred in the Komodo dragon baby .
Family affaire
With the power to reproduce without male mates , Komodo female person could potentially found an entirely novel settlement on their own . " Theoretically , a female Komodo dragon in the state of nature could swim to a new island and then consist a fertile clutch of eggs , " Buley said .
The downside is that all hatchlings resulting from this character of virgin birth are males . " These would spring up up to couple with their own mother and therefore , within one generation , there would potentially be a universe able to procreate unremarkably on the new island , " Buley excuse .
In the long - terminal figure this Oedipus - like drill could lead to health problem associate withinbreeding , as the full settlement would have such low genetic diversity .
The results also have implication for engrossed - fosterage programs that have sprout to ensure the survival of the fittest of the threatened lizards . few than 4,000 Komodo flying lizard are suppose to persist in the state of nature , residing on just three island in Indonesia .
scientist wonder if the act of go on male person and female freestanding could stimulate them to tack from intimate to asexual replica , which could lead to decreased genetic diverseness . ?
The uncovering is detailed in the Dec. 21 matter of the journalNature .
