Scientists have documented the first-known instance of a 'virgin birth' by a crocodile, which had been living in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo, according to a study published Wednesday.
A large crocodile is seen on the bank of the Tarcoles River, a river with one of the highest crocodile population in the world, in Tarcoles, province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate/File Photo
The female American crocodile laid 14 eggs in 2018 within her enclosure, a not uncommon phenomenon among captive reptiles. The more puzzling fact, however, came after three months of incubation when one egg was found to contain a fully formed stillborn baby crocodile. The phenomenon of FP, which some scientists have referred to by the shorthand of "virgin birth," has also been documented in other species of fish, birds, lizards and snakes. The scientists said this is the first-known example in a crocodile.In making an egg cell, a precursor cell divides into four cells: one becomes the egg cell and retains key cellular structures and the gel-like cytoplasm, while the others hold extra genetic material.
The American crocodile is considered vulnerable and at risk of extinction in the wild. According to one hypothesis, FP may be more common among species on the verge of extinction, the study said.
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Scientists Discover a Virgin Birth in a CrocodileIn January 2018, a female crocodile in a Costa Rican zoo laid a clutch of eggs. That was peculiar: She’d been living alone for 16 years. While crocodiles can lay sterile eggs that don’t develop, some of this clutch looked quite normal. And one of them — in a plot twist familiar to anyone who has watched “Jurassic Park” — continued to mature in an incubator. In this case, the egg eventually yielded a perfectly formed but stillborn baby crocodile. In a paper out Wednesday in the journal Biology Le
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