Study finds California condors can have ‘virgin births’
Endangered California condors can have “‘virgin births,” according to a study released Thursday.
Researchers with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said genetic testing confirmed that two male chicks hatched in 2001 and 2009 from unfertilized eggs were related to their mothers. Neither was related to a male.
The study was published Thursday in the the Journal of Heredity. It’s the first report of asexual reproduction in California condors, although parthenogenesis can occur in other species ranging from sharks to honey bees to Komodo dragons.
But in birds, it usually only occurs when females don’t have access to males. In this case, each mother condor had previously bred with males, producing 34 chicks, and each was housed with a fertile male at the time they produced the eggs through parthenogenesis.
The researchers said they believe it is the first case of asexual reproduction in any avian species where the female had access to a mate.
“These findings now raise questions about whether this might occur undetected in other species,” said Oliver Ryder, the study’s co-author and director of conservation genetics for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
The non-profit alliance runs the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park and has been involved in a California condor breeding program that helped bring the giant vultures back from near-extinction.
With 10-foot (3-meter) wingspans, California condors are the largest flying birds in North America. They once ranged throughout the West Coast.
But only 22 survived in the 1980s when the U.S. government captured them and placed them in zoos for captive breeding. About 160 were bred at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.
There are now more than 500 California condors, including more than 300 that have been released into the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and Mexico.
The asexual reproduction was discovered some years ago during widespread testing of genetic material collected over decades from condors, both living and dead, in breeding programs and in the wild.
“Among 467 male California condors tested in the parentage analysis, no male qualified as a potential sire” of the two birds, the study said.
California condors can live up to 60 years, but both males were sickly. One was less than 2 years old when he died, and the other lived less than eight years.
See more here: phys.org
Header image: KIRO 7
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Gary Ashe
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That would make them clones of the parent bird then.
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Herb Rose
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Hi Gary,
Both the chicks were male so they couldn’t be clones.
Herb
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Allan Shelton
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YIKES! This could be the start of a new religion.
Conderanity
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Guys and PSI Readers,
“We generate, share, and apply scientific knowledge vital to the conservation of animals, plants, and habitats worldwide. We help shape the vision of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to lead the fight against extinction.” Copied and Pasted from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance website.
Too bad they weren’t around when the dinosaurs disappeared!!!
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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The sex of alligators is a result of the temperature in the nest for a certain period of time during incubation. I wonder if there could be a similar situation with birds?
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
“The sex of alligators is a result of the temperature in the nest for a certain period of time during incubation.” And you know this??? How???
Have a good day, Jerry
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
Over at the article (https://principia-scientific.com/mammoths-still-roamed-earth-when-egypts-pyramids-were-built/) I just had just commented (with one of my gross errors) about a Creative Artist who had painted an image of Mammoths which this artist could have never seen; but clearly did imagine.
Hence, what you sometimes write seems to be what you imagine just as this Creative Artist imagined. And you might consider yourself to be doing SCIENCE because I read: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination<” (Albert Einstein). And “Imagination is more important than knowledge.). (Albert Einstein).
But sometimes it seems you actually believe that what you write is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH!!!, However, I also read: “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. (Albert Einstein).
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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Hi Jerry,
Since you don’t believe anything I write why don’t you use a search engine and ask “What determines the sex of alligators?” before you show your ignorance.
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Moffin
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Hi Herb.
It appears the Alligator eggs kept at a temperature of 31 to 33 degrees c. can hatch at either sex or be rainbow colored.
Interesting.
Cheers Moff
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Moffin
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Hi Herb.
It appears the Alligator eggs kept at a temperature of 31 to 33 degrees c. can hatch at either sex or be rainbow colored.
Interesting.
Cheers Moff
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Herb Rose
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Hi Moff,
The fact that the female condors were able to produce male offspring without a male mate certainly warrants more investigation into the role of environment versus genetics in determining the characteristics of offspring.
Cheerio,
Herb
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