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A young Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis, produced through parthenogenesis. Komodo dragons can produce offspring both through sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization.
Parthenogenesis is a mode of asexual reproduction in which offspring are produced by females without the genetic contribution of a male. Among all the sexual vertebrates, the only examples of true parthenogenesis, in which all-female populations reproduce without the involvement of males, are found in squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards). [1]
The Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places and typically lives in dry, open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are solitary, coming together only to breed and eat.
Some monitor lizards, including Komodo dragons, can reproduce asexually. [2] While all prokaryotes reproduce without the formation and fusion of gametes, mechanisms for lateral gene transfer such as conjugation, transformation and transduction can be likened to sexual reproduction in the sense of genetic recombination in meiosis. [3] [4]
These species consist of all females who reproduce asexually with no need for males. This is known to occur in various species of whiptail lizards. [25] Parthenogenesis was also recorded in species that normally reproduce sexually. A captive female Komodo dragon produced a clutch of eggs, despite being separated from males for over two years. [26]
The hemipenis is the intromittent organ of Squamata, [4] which is the second largest order of vertebrates with over 9,000 species distributed around the world. They differ from the intromittent organs of most other amniotes such as mammals, archosaurs and turtles that have a single genital tubercle, as squamates have the paired genitalia remaining separate. [5]
This is a list of genetic hybrids which is limited to well documented cases of animals of differing species able to create hybrid offspring which may or may not be infertile.
Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which the growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Agkistrodon contortrix (copperhead snake) and Agkistrodon piscivorus (cottonmouth snake) can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis; they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. [22]