A BABY lizard was hatched at a British zoo following an extremely rare “virgin birth”.
Izzy the eastern casquehead iguana was conceived with no male involvement.
She hatched from one of two marble-sized eggs laid by five-year-old female Alma, which went through parthenogenesis — a form of reproduction when an embryo develops from an unfertilised egg.
The process, which happens in fewer than one in 1,000 vertebrate births, sees the body find a way of filling in for genes usually provided by sperm.
Izzy, whose species is native to Central and South America, was born on Sunday at Battersea Park Children’s Zoo in South West London.
Manager Jamie Baker, 30, said: “We were amazed.
“We’ve no male eastern casquehead iguanas so when we discovered one of our females had laid eggs, it was exciting.
“We didn’t think they’d hatch but decided to incubate them anyway as we were aware that the species have been known to reproduce via parthenogenesis.”
He said Izzy, a genetic clone of her mum, was about the size of an adult little finger.
He said: “She’s growing well.
“She’s in her nursery enclosure feeding on fruit flies and tiny crickets.
“We’re keeping her on her own because if we left her in with the adults they’d eat her.
“They’re not an animal that gives parental care.
“Our priority is to get Izzy to a good enough size so that she can move in with the adults.”
1
