Should males and females be kept together to avoid triggering virgin birth in these endangered reptiles?
Abstract
Parthenogenesis, the production of offspring without fertilization by a male, is rare in vertebrate species, which usually reproduce after fusion of male and female gametes. Here we use genetic fingerprinting to identify parthenogenetic offspring produced by two female Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) that had been kept at separate institutions and isolated from males; one of these females subsequently produced additional offspring sexually. This reproductive plasticity indicates that female Komodo dragons may switch between asexual and sexual reproduction, depending on the availability of a mate — a finding that has implications for the breeding of this threatened species in captivity. Most zoos keep only females, with males being moved between zoos for mating, but perhaps they should be kept together to avoid triggering parthenogenesis and thereby decreasing genetic diversity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
I. STEPHEN
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ciofi, C. & De Boer, M. Herpetol. J. 14, 99–107 (2004).
Ciofi, C. & Bruford, M. W. Mol. Ecol. 7, 134–136 (1998).
White, M. J. D. Animal Cytology and Evolution (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1973).
Avise, J. C., Quattro, J. M. & Vrijenhoek, R. C. in Evolutionary Biology (eds Hecht, M. K., Wallace, B. & MacIntyre, R. J.) 225–246 (Plenum, New York, 1992).
Groot, T. V. M., Bruins, E. & Breeuwer, J. A. Heredity 90, 130–135 (2003).
Lenk, P., Eidenmueller, B., Staudter, H., Wicker, R. & Wink, M. Amphibia-Reptilia 26, 507–514 (2005).
Saccheri, I. J. et al. Nature 392, 491–494 (1998).
Spielman, D., Brook, B. W. & Frankham, R. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 15261–15264 (2004).
Sherratt, T. N. & Beatty, C. D. Nature 435, 1039–1040 (2005).
Halverson, J. & Spelman, L. H. in Biology and Conservation of Komodo Dragons (eds Murphy, J. B., Ciofi, C., de La Panouse, C. & Walsh, T.) 165–177 (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, 2002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Methods
This file presents full details of (1) the movements and reproductive histories of the two female Komodo dragons (Flora and Sungai) that produced parthenogenetic offspring, (2) the methods used for genotyping and (3) the statistical analyses used to exclude sexual reproduction.
Supplementary Table 1
This table provides the raw genotype data of all Komodo dragons.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Watts, P., Buley, K., Sanderson, S. et al. Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons. Nature 444, 1021–1022 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/4441021a
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4441021a
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The origination events of gametic sexual reproduction and anisogamy
Journal of Ethology (2022)
-
Genome-wide data implicate terminal fusion automixis in king cobra facultative parthenogenesis
Scientific Reports (2021)
-
Cytogenetic mechanisms of unisexuality in rock lizards
Scientific Reports (2020)
-
Conserved sex chromosomes and karyotype evolution in monitor lizards (Varanidae)
Heredity (2019)
-
Venom Complexity in a Pitviper Produced by Facultative Parthenogenesis
Scientific Reports (2018)