Three Komodo Dragon hatchlings have been born at the Chattanooga Zoo, after being fertilised without the presence of a male komodo.
The female Komodo dragon named Charlie gave birth to the three hatchlings, Onyx, Jasper and Flint in August 2019. The zoo has now confirmed that the birth was as result of successful self-fertilisation, according to The Independent.
Initially zoo staff were unsure, as a male, Kadal, was put with Charlie and DNA tests had to be done to confirm whether he was the father or not.
It turns out that Charlie had no need for Kadal’s intervention and reproduced through parthenogenesis, meaning ‘the mother’s half-set of chromosomes doubles up to generate the full complement,’ reports scientific journal Scientific American. ‘Hence, the offspring derives all its genes from the mother, but they are not a duplicate of her genome. Only 0.1 percent of all vertebrate are able to reproduce asexually.’
The zoo took to Facebook to announce this amazing occurrence.
‘At the time, it was unknown if they were a product of breeding with our male, Kadal, or if parthenogenesis had occurred. DNA results show that the hatchlings were, in fact, reproduced through parthenogenesis!’
https://www.facebook.com/ChattZoo/posts/10156575474885764
Although this form of reproduction is rare, it is not hard to believe it could occur in Komodo dragons as they are naturally aggressive and often live very isolated in the wild.
The Komodo dragon hatchlings are available for public viewing at the zoo.
SOURCE: GETAWAY