For 16 years, people who visited the Reptiland Parkin Costa Rica, they were able to see a female crocodile that, like the rest of the animals in those facilities, had been rescued from a nearby house. Her caregivers fed her and checked her health, but what they did not expect under any circumstances was to arrive one day and find that she had put fertilized eggs. After all, during all that time, she had not been in contact with any male. This is a true story that has just been revealed and that gives a reason (another one) for recreating a Jurassic Park in real life that would be a really bad idea.
In total, the female laid 14 eggs, although only seven were apparently fertilized. That is, half were like most chicken eggs, which do not have an embryo inside, but the other half did. This by boat was soon a surprise, but the park scientists soon realized that it was a case of parthenogenesis.
This is a common phenomenon in other reptiles, such as snakes and the Komodo dragon. Also It has been seen in birds and in fish such as sharks.. But, until now, there had never been a case in a female crocodile. It is an interesting find, since birds and crocodiles are the only modern representatives of the archosaurs, a group to which dinosaurs also belonged. Therefore, it is expected that they could also perform parthenogenesis, something that would have been a nightmare in Jurassic Park.
What is parthenogenesis?
Reptiles, birds, and sharks normally reproduce by sexual reproduction. In other words, a male and a female participate in the process, contributing half of the offspring’s chromosomes.
We can see it with the example of humans, who also reproduce sexually. We have in most of our cells 46 chromosomes. That is our amount, but it is a number that varies from one species to another. However, the sex cells, eggs and sperm, are the only ones that have half. That is, 23 chromosomes in our case. Thus, when both fuse to give rise to a zygote, the chromosomes of one and the other are added and we have a future baby with 46 chromosomes.
That is sexual reproduction, broadly speaking. In the case of the asexual, a single individual intervenes, which puts on a sexual cell whose chromosome content is doubled. If humans could reproduce by parthenogenesis, the 23 chromosomes in the female egg would become the 46 in the baby. they don’t know each other mammals that they can do it, so this at first is unthinkable for our species.
In the case of crocodiles it was to be expected, since other reptiles they can, but no cases were known yet.
The female crocodile who doesn’t need anyone else
Unfortunately, the story of this female crocodile does not have a happy endingfor none of the eggs went on. no pups were bornso the scientists used to study the genetic material inside the eggs verifying that, indeed, it was parthenogenetic.
It is known that in some species the offspring produced by parthenogenesis do not usually thrive. Sometimes they are born, but they die soon. This occurs because there is no mixture of two individuals, but only one, so that the result is the same as with the inbreeding which occurs, for example, in some royal families. Ultimately, the more genetic diversitybetter for offspring
It should be noted that parthenogenesis is a desperate measure. That is, females that are in contact with males do not usually resort to parthenogenesis, since they do not need it and evolutionarily it is much better for them to reproduce sexually. That is why it is something that happens very infrequently. In fact, it was thought that it only occurred with animals in captivity. However, after discovering several cases in nature, it has been concluded that, in reality, animals in captivity are more closely monitored and that is why it is believed that there are more cases of parthenogenesis. Also, it is more common for females not to have access to a male. But by power It can perfectly occur in nature.
What does all this have to do with Jurassic Park?
In Jurassic Parkat the beginning of the first movie, it was explained that all the dinosaurs in the park were females. Thus, supposedly they ensured that they could not reproduce and it would be easier control the population.
But everything gets out of hand and the females manage to reproduce on their own. Life makes its way. In fact, in the second saga, jurassicworldthere is a detail that indicates that Blue, one of the female velociraptor, has reproduced by parthenogenesis. And it is that, in the same way as in Jurassic Park dinosaur DNA sequences were completed with Ran DNAto, in jurassicworld employ monitor lizard genetic material. This is one of the animals that can reproduce by parthenogenesis.
But actually, we now know that even that wouldn’t have been necessary. If crocodiles and birds can do it, dinosaurs might not have needed a male to breed either. Therefore, if a Jurassic Park was made in real life, population control would also end up being a problem. failure. Better to stay as we are, we have enough with what we have.