At the beginning of this year we had told you the story of a female of shark who, in an aquarium of a Louisiana, had laid an egg without mating with a male.
A rare case of Partenogenesis that has now repeated itself in an English zoo, Telford’s Exotic Zoo: this time, the protagonist is an iguana, which has laid eight eggs which, as told on social media by the staff of the zoo, have hatched between everyone’s amazement.
The “miracle” of Partenogenesis. The iguana in question belongs to the species Laemanctus Serrausnatives of Central America and widespread in Mexico. It is part of the family Carytophanidaewhich includes, among other things, the four species of basilisco and whose members are known in English as “Casque-Headed Iguana“, That is, iguana from the helmet. He lives most of his life on the trees, and when he is forced to go to the ground he is able to run at considerable speed by getting on the rear legs.
Now we know something more about her: she is capable of partnership, as evidenced by Telford’s happy event. We know that it is partnership because the animal is in a cage in which there are no males, and the zoo staff ensures that it has never come into contact with a member of the opposite sex. All the eight eggs, among other things, gave birth to female specimens: “Mami-cloni of the mother”, according to the staff of the zoo, which also defined the event “one of the rarest ones that can be attended in nature”.
When the male is not there … it is true that partnership is rare, but it is equally true that “in nature” is a misleading expression. In fact, the vast majority of the cases of partnership to which we have witnessed, has involved females in captivity: the theory is that the females of many species have this latent ability, and “pulling it out” only when there are no males available – something that often happens when you live in a cage (and those who take care of you does not want to put you in contact with the males). It also happens in species at risk of extinction: a 2015 study tells a case of partnership in nature that involved the females of a population in crisis of Pristis pectinata who had found themselves without males.
And now? While discusses on the miracle of their birth, the eight iguanas born for Partenogenesis have not yet been exposed to the public: they are in the nursery for reptiles of the zoo, carefully monitored and maintained in ideal climatic conditions.
According to what the staff says, however, it is a temporary condition: once their health has been verified, the reptiles will also be presented to the public.
