2023-06-07 13:25:55
A zoo in Costa Rica announced the registration of a pregnancy, the first of its kind, in a female crocodile, as she became pregnant on her own, or through what is known as “self-reproduction”.
According to press reports, the astonished female crocodile gave birth to a fetus that was 99.9 percent genetically identical to her.
The pregnancy occurred in 2018, but the researchers have now announced it through the British scientific journal “Biology Letters”.
This phenomenon is known as ” parthenogenesis “, and it occurs in species of birds, fish and reptiles, but it has never been recorded in crocodiles.
And the usual pregnancy is through the female’s egg undergoing fertilization from the male, but the females of some animals get pregnant, even if they are far from the males.
Scientists believe that this matter is mainly due to an evolutionary genetic component, as “maybe dinosaurs were also capable of self-reproduction,” according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
An 18-year-old American female crocodile laid an egg in Park Reptilandia in January 2018, and the embryo was fully formed inside her, but it was hypocritical and the egg did not hatch.
It is noteworthy that this female lived isolated from the males since she was two years old.
Upon conducting laboratory tests and analyzes, it was found that the fetus is 99.9 percent identical to the mother, which means that it was born without a father.
According to the study published in “Biology Lighter”, which specializes in biology, the phenomenon of self-reproduction may be widespread among crocodiles, but it has not been observed before.
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