2023-06-19 08:00:36
Conceive a child from age 2 to 16 years without contact with a male
The first crocodile to experience the miracle of virgin conception was held at Costa Rica’s Parque Reptilandia zoo.18-year-old female American alligator (Crocodylus acutus)is.
Since 2002, when this crocodile was two years old, he was rescued by the zoo.Raised in isolation from other alligators for 16 yearsIt’s been done.
Her pregnancy and egg laying was confirmed in January 2018.
She laid a total of 14 eggs, according to the keepers, but they opened them after three months because they didn’t hatch after the normal period.
Seven of them were found to be viable, but the other six had 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.
A female American alligator that performed the miracle of ‘virgin conception’ / Credit: Warren Booth et al., Biology Letters(2023)
Female crocodiles that lay eggs haven’t had any 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 biologist Warren Booth to investigate.
Unlike sexual reproduction, in which males and females mate, in parthenogenetic reproduction, females produce offspring alone.The child born is essentially a clone of the motherbecomes.
And as a result of Mr. Booth’s analysis of the stillborn fetus,99.9% identical to the mother alligator geneIt turns out.
In other words, this fetus has no father,Proven to be the world’s first crocodile parthenogenesisIt is.
Offspring born from other eggs are also seen as clones of the mother crocodile.
Photo of a stillborn fetus / Credit: Warren Booth et al., Biology Letters(2023)
Species that can reproduce sexually rarely reproduce exclusively with females.
Because in parthenogenesis,Lack of integration of male DNA results in less genetic diversity and vulnerability to various diseasesIt’s from
Still, parthenogenesis occurs basically when there are no males around to mate.
Therefore, in past 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 had a virgin conception while having a male nearby.
Confirmed a tiger shark that had a “virgin birth” while a male was nearby!
Until a decade ago, parthenogenetic reproduction was thought to be extremely rare, but in recent decades when DNA analysis has become possible, it has become clear that it is a phenomenon that is widely observed in nature. .
The virgin conception has beenOver 80 species including birds, fish, lizards, snakes, sharks, rays and moreis confirmed by
Dinosaurs were able to have virgin conception?!
“The fact that parthenogenesis is seen in many species suggests that the breeding method is very old and is a trait that has been inherited over time,” Booth said.
In particular, the addition of crocodiles to the list of species capable of virgin conception is interesting.
This is because archosaurs, which includes both modern birds and crocodiles, can be traced back to dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Species confirmed to be parthenogenetic on the right, phylogenetic tree on the left / Credit: Warren Booth et al., Biology Letters(2023)
From here Mr. Booth“The fact that both crocodilians and birds, the archosaur survivors, can reproduce parthenogenetically suggests that dinosaurs and pterosaurs could have reproduced in the same way.”pointed out.
In Steven Spielberg’s classic movie “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 there should be only females.
Maybe this wasn’t just a myth, it was actually a viable breeding method when there were no males around.
In other words, if you borrow Dr. Malcolm’s famous line in the play“Life finds a way”That’s why.
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