A female crocodile from a zoo in Costa Rica was able to impregnate herself in what scientists are now calling the first-known case of a “virgin birth” for the species.
The crocodile, who has apparently not had contact with a male crocodile in nearly 16 years, was able to produce an egg containing a fetus that was 99.9 per cent genetically identical to herself.
Details about the crocodile’s virgin birth, also called facultative parthenogenesis, were published in the scientific journal Biology Letters on Wednesday.
Researchers wrote the crocodile, which lives in captivity in Parque Reptilania, may have inherited the ability for asexual reproduction from an evolutionary ancestor.