Asian water dragons have been added to the leaning of brute that can reproduce without male assistance . An mortal being kept at the Smithsonian ’s National Zoo has bring forth offspring without come across a male since well before she was sexually fledged . Althoughparthenogenesishas been observed among more than 20 reptile specie , this is the first report of it in a extremity of the Agamidae family .
A female water dragon known as WD-10 in the zoo ’s Reptile Discovery Center set off laying bollock in 2009 . WD-10 has been cage alone or with other female since the age of four month , and did n’t become sexually matured for more than a year thereafter .
Many species do n’t need males for egg - laying ( think chickens ) , but need them if the testicle are ever to hatch . In 2015 , however , keeper Kyle Miller “ took a fortune ” and put the water dragon ’s orchis in an brooder . The first incubate clutch produced two hatchling that died in their shells , which was enough to keep Miller try on . One healthy girl hatched from the next clutch in 2016 . Two year later , a second hatchling was ab initio healthy but break from attempt to eat something that block its digestive system , truly a warning about eyes bigger than one ’s stomach .
Acknowledging a distant possibility WD-10 had stored sperm from a male person or had receive an live male person in the coop , the keepers transmit deoxyribonucleic acid analysis . InPLOS One , they announced that the transmissible matches between female parent , daughter , and unhatched offspring were too stark for offspring behave with two parents .
So far , the Smithsonian has resisted the enticement to modify WD-10 ’s name to Mary .
There are obvious advantage to parthenogenesis , peculiarly in recovering after cataclysm . In this lightness , it seems rum it is not more common . However , WD-10 ’s story may hint at an account . The keepers incubated 64 eggs , but she only had two respectable offspring . Some of the other eggs were never rich , and even among those that were , the success rate was poor .
The researchers acknowledge the possible action their brooding may have differed in temperature or humidity from the water dragon ’s apotheosis . However , it ’s more potential that parthenogenesis is n’t a reliable method acting of reproduction for water dragons , although some other species do make it go well .
The team are knifelike to see whether WD-10 ’s surviving daughter also reproduce in this manner , which would paint a picture this was not a one - off accident . “ Somewhere in their evolutionary history , they [ could ] have this trait where they can repopulate … wholly in the absence seizure of mates , ” Miller toldSmithsonian.com .
Reproduction without males ( at least initially ) has been a utilitarian plot of land equipment for films fromJurassic ParktoGodzilla , which raises the question : If water dragons can reproduce on their own , what about fire dragons ?
