(Padirac) She made three babies on her own: a female of the species of Malay monitor lizards gave birth, without fertilization, to three babies, Sunday and Monday in a zoo in the south-west of France, due to a rare genetic process.
Posted yesterday at 4:14 p.m.
The formalization of such a phenomenon would constitute a world first for a species poached in Southeast Asia for its skin and which appears on the red list of threatened species established by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Shy, a female of this endangered species of reptile native to Southeast Asia, has in fact not crossed paths with any male. And yet, the three eggs she laid in August did hatch thanks to a phenomenon known to scientists, although infrequent: parthenogenesis.
The idea that these eggs could be viable is “part of an intuition because it had not been officially recorded in the Malayan monitor, but it had already happened in other reptiles such as the Comodo monitor”, explains the manager of Padiparc de Padirac, Raphaël Da Fonseca. This genetic process has also been documented in reptiles and fish, but never in mammals.
During the laying, on August 10, 2021, he hastened to place the eggs in an incubator to protect them. “She had laid twice before, but the eggs didn’t look the same. There, they were in good condition, I said to myself “Why not? ””.
The newborns, measuring about thirty centimeters, are doing well. They are still connected to vitelline, the nutrient found inside their shell.
They should feed in this way for a fortnight, before the keepers of the zoological park offer them insects, small fish or mice, before providing them with more meaty food.
“It is difficult to say whether they are males or females at the moment, but in cases of parthenogenesis in monitor lizards, in almost 100% of cases they are males”, specifies Raphaël Da Fonseca.
The manager of the site now calls on “researchers, scientists” to prove that it is indeed a parthenogenesis, to attest to the DNA traceability between the mother, aged 13, and her three offspring.
In the meantime, these three babies will be stars in the park, which reopens on 1er February. “We are going to arrange their terrarium so that they can hide but that visitors can observe them,” rejoices Mr. Da Fonseca.
In adulthood, this animal, described as “very intelligent”, can exceed two meters in length in males.