Khansaber
Senator (1k+ posts)
[h=1]Mystery of Anteater's 'virgin birth' at Connecticut zoo SOLVED as experts say it was freak biological phenomenon[/h]
However, the mystery of how Armani the anteater eventually conceived has finally been revealed as 'embryonic diapause' .
It's not virgin birth in the strict sense of the phrase, however embryonic diapause happens when a mother puts a fertilized egg on hold in her uterus.
If environmental conditions arent right, the mother can prevent the fertilized egg from implanting and developing for long periods of time.
The process has never been observed in an anteater, however it has been documented in armadillos.
When she gives birth, her entire uterus is going to clear out, Stacey Belhumeur, species survival plan coordinator for the North American population of giant anteaters, told the Greenwich Time. Anything that's in her uterus, even another undeveloped embryo, would clear out.
For weeks there had been theories as to how Armani became pregnant.
Some had suggested parthenogenesis, or for want of a better term, a virgin birth.
During such cases, the embryo grows and develops in the absence of fertilization.
It sounds unusualsome might even say miraculousbut its a surprisingly common occurrence in the animal kingdom.
Researchers believe that an absence of available males likely drives the phenomenon.
Although the exact mechanisms of parthenogenetic reproduction can vary from species to species, all parthenogenesis produces normal, healthy offspring.
- Armani the anteater hadn't been with her mate in the months before she conceived
-
- Zoologists say a fertilized egg was likely 'on hold' until conditions for pregnancy were right
- When Archie was born, it gave the impression of immaculate conception
However, the mystery of how Armani the anteater eventually conceived has finally been revealed as 'embryonic diapause' .
It's not virgin birth in the strict sense of the phrase, however embryonic diapause happens when a mother puts a fertilized egg on hold in her uterus.
If environmental conditions arent right, the mother can prevent the fertilized egg from implanting and developing for long periods of time.
The process has never been observed in an anteater, however it has been documented in armadillos.
When she gives birth, her entire uterus is going to clear out, Stacey Belhumeur, species survival plan coordinator for the North American population of giant anteaters, told the Greenwich Time. Anything that's in her uterus, even another undeveloped embryo, would clear out.
For weeks there had been theories as to how Armani became pregnant.
Some had suggested parthenogenesis, or for want of a better term, a virgin birth.
During such cases, the embryo grows and develops in the absence of fertilization.
It sounds unusualsome might even say miraculousbut its a surprisingly common occurrence in the animal kingdom.
Researchers believe that an absence of available males likely drives the phenomenon.
Although the exact mechanisms of parthenogenetic reproduction can vary from species to species, all parthenogenesis produces normal, healthy offspring.
