Scientists have documented the first-known occasion of a “virgin birth” by a crocodile, which had been residing in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Scientists have documented the first-known occasion of a “virgin birth” by a crocodile, which had been residing in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo, in response to a examine revealed Wednesday.
The feminine American crocodile laid 14 eggs in 2018 inside her enclosure, a not unusual phenomenon amongst captive reptiles. The extra puzzling truth, nonetheless, got here after three months of incubation when one egg was discovered to include a completely shaped stillborn child crocodile.
According to the examine revealed within the journal Biology Letters, scientists examined the crocodile fetus’ genetic make-up. They discovered DNA sequences exhibiting it was a results of facultative parthenogenesis (FP), or replica with out the genetic contribution of males.
The phenomenon of FP, which some scientists have referred to by the shorthand of “virgin birth,” has additionally been documented in different species of fish, birds, lizards and snakes. The scientists stated that is the first-known instance in a crocodile.
In FP, a feminine’s egg cell can develop right into a child with out being fertilized by a male’s sperm cell.
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In making an egg cell, a precursor cell divides into 4 cells: one turns into the egg cell and retains key mobile buildings and the gel-like cytoplasm, whereas the others maintain additional genetic materials.
Then, a type of cells primarily acts as a sperm cell and fuses with the egg to turn out to be “fertilized.”
The American crocodile is taken into account susceptible and at threat of extinction within the wild. According to at least one speculation, FP could also be extra widespread amongst species on the verge of extinction, the examine stated.
The scientists stated the Costa Rica “virgin birth” might result in new details about crocodile ancestors that walked the earth within the Triassic Period some 250 million years in the past.
“This discovery offers tantalizing insights into the possible reproductive capabilities of the extinct archosaurian relatives of crocodilians and birds, notably members of Pterosauria and Dinosauria,” the examine stated.
