Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males
- Written by Mercedes Burns, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Getting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National ZooAn Asian water dragon hatched from an egg at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and her keepers were shocked. Why? Her mother had never been with a male water dragon. Through...

