2 California condors reproduce asexually in a first for endangered species, study says

SAN DIEGO — The first hatching of two California condor chicks from unfertilized eggs has been confirmed by conservation researchers at the San Diego Zoo.

>> Read more trending news

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance discovered the first confirmed asexual reproduction among the endangered species during a routine analysis of biological samples from two California condors in their managed breeding program, KNSD reported.

The study, first reported in the “Journal of Heredity,” could have “rippling effects for wildlife genetics and conservation science,” the alliance wrote in a news release.

“Scientists confirmed that each condor chick was genetically related to the respective female condor (dam) that laid the egg,” the zoo stated. “However, in a surprising twist, they found that neither bird was genetically related to a male—meaning both chicks were biologically fatherless; and accounted for the first two instances of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, to be confirmed in the California condor species.”

“We were not exactly looking for evidence of parthenogenesis, it just hit us in the face,” Oliver Ryder, a co-author of the study, stated. “This is truly an amazing discovery.”

According to alliance researchers, the discovery also accounted for another first: the first recorded instance of asexual reproduction “in any avian species where the female bird had access to a mate” because the condors that hatched the eggs had been housed with male birds, KRON reported.

“These findings now raise questions about whether this might occur undetected in other species,” Ryder stated.

Read more here.

©2021 Cox Media Group