A female American crocodile has spent her entire life in captivity in a reptile park in Costa Rica and just laid several fertile eggs — without mating first.
This recent event means that researchers are now adding crocodilians to a growing list of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish that can generate offspring without the help of a male mate.
“It’s likely that this has happened for thousands and thousands of years and [has] just been missed,” says Warren Booth, an evolutionary biologist at Virginia Tech.
Crocodile Eggs From Parthenogenesis?
Quetzal Dwyer, the owner of Parque Reptilandia, initially discovered that the male crocodile he had was in fact female when his staff noticed the crocodile was aggressive whenever they approached a specific area. This is common nest-guarding behavior, and “the reptile keepers had some idea that something was going on,” Booth says.
