Female dragon gives birth to hatchlings without male partner

Female dragon gives birth to hatchlings without male partner

Komodo dragon

Under remarkably unique circumstances, a female Komodo dragon has given birth to three hatchlings without any male partner.

Her name is Charlie and she lives in the Chattanooga Zoo in Tennessee.

Also read: Indonesia will close Komodo island in 2020 for rehabilitation

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She was able to do so on her own through a phenomenon called parthenogenesis, which is extremely rare among vertebrates.

Approximately 0.1 per cent of all vertebrates can do it, as per Scientific American.

According to the science magazine, Parthenogenesis happens when another egg, rather than sperm, fertilize an egg.

Charlie and a potential mate named Kadal were placed together in hopes of breeding, but she gave birth to the three brothers, named Onyx, Jasper and Flint all by herself in September last year.

''Komodo dragons have evolved to reproduce both sexually and parthenogenetically because they mainly live isolated in the wild and become violent when approached,'' saidthe zoo.