A boa constrictor within the U.Okay. gave delivery to 14 infants—with out a mate.
Is it a miracle? The results of a secret rendezvous? In all probability not. Females of species have the flexibility to breed asexually, with out sperm from a male. The method is known as parthenogenesis, from the Greek phrases for “virgin” and “delivery.”
Some crops and bugs can do it, in addition to some amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish. A stingray named Charlotte that was thought to have turn into pregnant by this methodology died this week at an aquarium in North Carolina, although she by no means delivered and it’s unclear if she was ever pregnant.
Some wasps, crustaceans and lizards reproduce solely by parthenogenesis. However in different species it’s uncommon and normally noticed in captivity.
It tends to happen in conditions the place females are separated from males, mentioned Demian Chapman, who directs the Sharks & Rays Conservation Analysis Program on the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida.
The boa within the U.Okay., a 6-foot, 13-year-old Brazilian Rainbow Boa named Ronaldo, gave delivery final week after having no contact with another snakes for not less than 9 years, in line with the Metropolis of Portsmouth Faculty, which saved the snake.
A method parthenogenesis can happen is when a feminine’s egg fuses with one other cell, usually a cell leftover from a course of that enables the feminine to create the egg. That cell, referred to as a polar physique, offers the egg the genetic info it could usually get from sperm. The cell begins dividing and that results in the creation of an embryo.
It’s unclear how prevalent parthenogenesis is within the wild, Chapman mentioned. Nevertheless it has occurred exterior captivity amongst smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species in Florida’s coastal waters.
“We expect the females reproduce like that on some events as a result of they haven’t discovered a male as a result of there are so few of them,” Chapman mentioned.
Offspring from parthenogenesis have much less genetic variation, Chapman mentioned, which may result in developmental issues.
“A litter produced by sexual copy is normally a lot bigger than one produced by way of parthenogenesis if it’s an animal that offers delivery to litters,” Chapman mentioned. “And you’ll usually see people in that litter produced by parthenogenesis that don’t develop appropriately indirectly.”
This article by The Related Press was first revealed by Phys.org on 3 July 2024. Lead Picture: Flora the Komodo dragon walks round her enclosure at Chester Zoo in Chester, England, Monday Dec. 18, 2006. Flora’s virginal conception, and that of one other Komodo dragon earlier within the 12 months on the London Zoo, are the primary time it had been documented in Komodo dragons. Credit score: AP Photograph/Dave Thompson, File.
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