Subscribe
to RSS Feed
Sedgwick County Zoo Releases Video of Baby Komodo Dragon
 |
|
| Baby Komodo Dragon |
By John Boyd (WICHITA, Kan.)
The Sedgwick County Zoo has released video of one of two Komodo Dragons that were hatched at the zoo earlier this year.
The Komodo Dragons were born to a female without the contibution of a male. It’s a process called parthenogenesis. The Sedgwick County Zoo is the first zoo in the Amercas to document this sort of reproduction in Komodo Dragons. Only two earlier cases were documented in 2006 at London Zoo and Chester Zoo in England.
According to the Sedgwick County Zoo, a parthenogenetic egg needs no fertilization from a male because it inherits and duplicates the mother’s chromosome. Based on a Komodo dragon’s genetics of sex determination, hatchlings reproduced in this way will always be male.
The zoo says has two adult Komodo dragons; both are female and cared for separately. One female laid approximately 17 eggs on May 19-20, 2007 and Zoo staff followed the Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation to incubate and hatch two eggs. The two lizards hatched on January 31st and February 1st, 2008.
The animals are not yet on display at the zoo.
Similar Posts:
- Indonesian zoo welcomes birth of 25 Komodo dragons
- L.A. Zoo Komodo dragons expecting offspring
- Indonesian zoo welcomes 32 newborn Komodo dragons
- Los Angeles Zoo is home to 22 baby Komodo dragons
- 30 crocodile eggs fail to hatch at Vandalur zoo
