Aranka is a Proud Father as well as Mother
Something that the astute keeper of the reptiles in Prague Zoo Petr Velenský suspected for quite a while has now been confirmed. Komodo Dragon Aranka is simultaneously both father as well as mother of her new babies. This unusual phenomenon is called parthenogenesis and it is a trait that has been discovered with Komodo dragons only recently.
For over 160 days the workers of Prague Zoo waited for the mystery to be revealed: Who precisely is father of Aranka’s babies? Is there a father?
Draco and Leonardo
Genetic testing which should help to clarify the origin of the babies was carried out by team from Charles University working under the leadership of Dr. RNDr. Daniel Frynta, PhD. “Straight after hatching we collected specimens from their umbilical cords – the extraction was totally non invasive and it didn’t put the babies under any stress,” stated doc. Frynta. Test results showed that it is highly possible that the father of the babies hatched from the fourth hatching and wasn’t even the original male Draco who died last year, not even Aranka’s new partner Leonardo. “The babies were conceived by parthenogenesis, asexual reproduction found in females, and Aranka became Mum as well as Dad of her/his own babies,” Dr Frynta summed up the enigmatic results of the research.
New discovery
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Asexual reproduction was first found in Komodo dragons in 2006 and the way how it all happens is still a challenging puzzle. “It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population. We are at the very beginning of this research and we will try to find out more,” stated Petr Velenský, reptile keeper from Prague ZOO.
There will be new tests
The question now is whether this is how Aranka’s babies from her fifth hatching, which hatched in the middle of August, were conceived. It is highly probable but confirmation of this theory requires more testing. Prague Zoo is the top world breeder of Komodo dragons and now it can contribute by obtaining many more findings about biology of this particular species.
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