Scientists say they have documented the first virgin birth in a crocodile
. And while the concept may sound bizarre to humans, this type of reproduction is not unheard of across the animal kingdom, according to researchers. The crocodile in question, named Coquita, had been living alone in a Costa Rican zoo called Parque Reptilandia for 16 years before laying a very special clutch of eggs in 2018. One of those eggs was later found to contain a fully formed crocodile fetus, despite the fact that Coquita had lived virtually her entire life in isolation.
The genetic cards tend to be stacked against animals formed by this type of reproduction, but “it’s not as if they all don’t survive,” Booth added. “Some of them certainly do.” And offspring produced by parthenogenesis can go on to reproduce — either sexually or through more parthenogenesis, Booth said, though he noted that not all the research behind these observations has been published.
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