Virgin Komodo Becomes New Parent

"A female Komodo dragon which laid fertilised eggs despite being a virgin is now a mother and "father" of five.

Flora produced a clutch of 10 eggs without mating at Chester Zoo, Cheshire, in May 2006.

When Flora, one of the zoo's two female Komodo dragons, laid her eggs in May, they were put in an incubator where three collapsed.

On opening the eggs, staff discovered they contained embryos, and genetic fingerprinting by scientists at Liverpool University showed Flora's eggs had developed without being fertilised by sperm - a process called parthenogenesis." A real interesting news story by the BBC ....