Zoo celebrates virgin birth of Komodo dragons

[Thetaloops]

So there are virgin births, takes out some of the complications but also some of the fun!! ;D

Zoo celebrates virgin birth of Komodo dragons
Mother never even exposed to males; breakthrough raises scientists’ hopes



Phil Noble / Reuters
A baby Komodo dragon is held by a zoo keeper after hatching at the Chester Zoo in northern England on Monday. The baby dragon is from a clutch of eggs laid by the zoo's female dragon Flora that were fertilized without the help of a male partner. Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon.

Updated: 6:40 a.m. ET Jan 24, 2007
MANCHESTER, England - 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.

Evolutionary breakthrough
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.

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.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[KNOWTHIS]

www.livescience.com/animals/070522_asexual_sharks.html

Virgin Shark Gives Birth

Female sharks may not need males around anymore, because they can reproduce without having sex, surprised scientists have found.

The startling discovery, announced today, has a long history. It was initially made after the unexpected birth of a baby hammerhead shark in the aquarium of Nebraska's Henry Doorly Zoo in December 2001. The birth surprised zookeepers because the tank only contained female hammerheads, none of which had ever even been exposed to a male during their time in captivity, much less mated with one.

The females had all been caught off the coast of Florida as babies themselves.

Scientists thought that perhaps the mother had mated with a male before her capture and somehow stored the sperm over the three years, before finally fertilizing her eggs or that she had mated with the male of another species in the tank.

DNA profiling now showsed that neither of these possibilities was the answer; the baby shark's DNA only matched up with it's mother's-there was no paternal DNA in the baby at all. The mother had become pregnant asexually, or without ever having sex.

"The findings were really surprising because as far as anyone knew, all sharks reproduced only sexually by a male and female mating, requiring the embryo to get DNA from both parents for full development, just like in mammals," said study co-author Paulo Prodohl of Queen's University Belfast, in Northern Ireland.