Parthenogenesis in Reptiles is not Just a Last-resort Method for Offspring Production

[forgivenick]

Although it hasn't been seen in Leopard Geckos (yet!) I thought that many of you would be interested in this article on asexual reproduction in reptiles.


Basically, I got schooled today and reptile breeding may be even easier than you think!



http://latitude33geckos.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/parthenogenesis/

 

[sausage]

i find this very interesting.
Iv herd that tokay geckos can do this, any idea if this is true??

 

[forgivenick]

I really don't know much about other geckos. I would like to though. I have heard that other gecko species have been known to do this though.

 

[ImNotYogi]

You never know. I remember reading about a hammerhead shark in captivity reproducing asexually. Sharks were never known for it, evidently. I've only heard about it in whiptail lizards and the mourning gecko.

Shark story here

 

[acpart]

There are people on other forums who have produced some Rhac species parthenogenically. In at least one case, the female gecko in question had never been with a male. One of the problems about proving parthenogenesis is being able to document that the female has never been with a male, even accidentally, due to the geckos' ability to store sperm. I had a bearded who died last year, but the summer before, she laid a fertile egg that resulted in a full term embryo that didn't hatch. She hadn't been near a male for the 5 years I owned her, but I can't vouch for her first 4 years.

Aliza

 

[forgivenick]

Wow Aliza! You must have been very surprised when that egg was laid.
I agree on the documentation for female isolation from males. It is a very interesting topic and I hope to hear more about it.

 

[ImNotYogi]

There are people on other forums who have produced some Rhac species parthenogenically. In at least one case, the female gecko in question had never been with a male. One of the problems about proving parthenogenesis is being able to document that the female has never been with a male, even accidentally, due to the geckos' ability to store sperm. I had a bearded who died last year, but the summer before, she laid a fertile egg that resulted in a full term embryo that didn't hatch. She hadn't been near a male for the 5 years I owned her, but I can't vouch for her first 4 years.

Aliza

There's also doing a DNA test. In the shark story I linked to one was done and no trace of male DNA was found in the hammerhead. That would be the thing that would confirm if an animal can reproduce asexually.