"'We've got eight little babies but we've only got a female casque-headed iguana,' he told BBC Radio Shropshire. 'So we were quite surprised when our long-term resident decided to lay some eggs. 'We thought we'd pop them in the incubator... a couple of months later we got eight little babies running around. 'What's happened is she's had a virgin birth shall we say.'"
"'This is what happens with parthenogenesis - there's no boys in there, they're all girls,' said Mr Adams. 'But potentially if they were in the wild and there were no males around they could go out and carry on repopulating. How does a 'virgin birth' work? 'It's kind of a "life finds a way" story, and that's what this lizard can do.'"
"Parthenogenesis is extremely rare in nature, although it is found in some other species, most notably mayflies, turkeys, pythons and boa constrictors. It is not entirely clear what triggers certain species to undergo this process, or what connects the species that have this capability. But some research suggests that endangered animals might do so more frequently as finding a mate becomes harder."
A female casque-headed iguana at the Exotic Zoo in Telford produced eight hatchlings without contact with a male. The clutch hatched after staff incubated eggs laid by the long-term female resident. The births in August are attributed to parthenogenesis, a rare form of asexual reproduction where offspring develop from unfertilised eggs. The hatchlings are genetic clones of the mother and are all female. The young are being kept under controlled temperature and humidity to mimic a tropical habitat. Parthenogenesis is recorded in some species and may occur more when mates are scarce.
Read at Mail Online
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