Lizard Nativity

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by koosie

As a fully paid-up dragon, my cold heart was certainly warmed by this news story from nearby Chester zoo:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6196225.stm

Though I did feel a bit sorry for the virgin mother Flora. Personally I think she's really pretty but I was told in no uncertain terms that I'm the wrong type of dragon.

I read that this morning! She is a Komodo Dragon, a rare species of Monitor, the largest lizard in the world. This is great news because in this species, males outnumber females 10 to 1, so scientists have been worried that the species is doomed to extinction due to so few females, and competition among males making it more difficult for a female to actually breed.

This phenomenon, called pathenogenisis, is not unknown among lizards, though. Several species of smaller lizards, including the Desert Whiptail of the American Southwest, reproduce this way. There are no males even found in those species; all of them are female! It's basically self-cloning; the eggs are exact replicas of the parent, and all offspring are female as a result.

pitbulllady