Mom? Dad?Last January, Flora, a female Komodo dragon Komodo dragon: see lizard; monitor. Komodo dragon Largest living lizard (Varanus komodoensis), a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae. They live on Komodo Island and a few neighbouring islands in Indonesia. at the Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a Zoological Garden located in the North of England. in England, became both mom and dad to seven babies. Flora laid a clutch of leathery leath·er·y adj. Having the texture or appearance of leather: a leathery face. leath  er·i·ness n. eggs in May 2006. The zoo's
staff was shocked to find embryos, or developing young, inside three
collapsed eggs. That's because Flora, raised in captivity, has
never met a male dragon. Without mating, there was no way for sperm, or
a male sex cell, to fertilize the eggs so they would produce offspring.
Baffled scientists studied the collapsed eggs' DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. . The genetic material showed that the eggs developed through parthenogenesis--or without fertilization. Some lizard species can breed this way, says Kevin Buley, the zoo's reptile expert. But until now, scientists weren't sure if Komodo dragons could. |
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