Ultimately, there was only one fully formed offspring among those seven viable eggs. But after shining a flashlight on the 14 eggs in Coquita’s clutch, experts determined seven could be viable and chose to artificially incubate them. It’s not uncommon for reptiles living in captivity to lay eggs, but “given the period of isolation from mates, these would normally be considered non-viable and discarded,” according to the study. It was clear evidence - presented for the first time in a paper published in the journal Biology Letters on June 7 - that crocodiles are capable of a type of reproduction called parthenogenesis, in which unfertilized eggs can yield offspring. There was almost no chance she had consorted with male crocodiles. 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 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. And while the concept may sound bizarre to humans, this type of reproduction is not unheard of across the animal kingdom, according to researchers. Scientists say they have documented the first virgin birth in a crocodile.
0 kommentar(er)
