Researchers discovered a female crocodile had a "virgin birth" at a Costa Rica zoo while living alone and found that one of the eggs laid in 2018 only had its mother's genes, according to research published in Biology Letters.
After testing the DNA of the baby crocodile, the scientists found it was a result of "facultative parthenogenesis" (FP), according to the research, which is the ability to reproduce without the genetic contributions of males.
The female American crocodile, which had been living at the zoo for 16 years by itself, laid 14 eggs in 2018.
Seven of the crocodile's eggs were fertile and after incubating them for three months, one was discovered to have a fully formed stillborn baby crocodile.
CROCODILE CRASHES PICNIC, STEALS COOLER FULL OF ALCOHOL: VIDEO
FP has been documented in birds, snakes, lizards and types of fish, according to the research.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced in 2021 that two female critically endangered California condors had successfully hatched eggs without the help of male condors.
During a routine analysis of biological samples from the two condors in the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s managed breeding program, scientists confirmed that each condor chick was genetically related to the respective female condor that laid the egg from which it hatched.
Neither bird was found to be genetically related to a male condor – and researchers tested 467 male condors in the breeding pool as potential fathers – even though the two mother condors, or dams, had been continuously housed with fertile male partners.
The co-hosts of "The View" joked about the discovery on Thursday in the context of humans, as co-host Ana Navarro thought of the possibility that women could have babies by themselves.
"Listen, I’m amazed by this story. And I just thought to myself, if this is somehow ever able to be done with humans, where women can have babies all by themselves, oh, men, you are in trouble. Because the day we don’t need you to procreate, we ain’t putting up with jack," Navarro said.
Co-host Sara Haines said it was like a "narcissist's dream."
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg also told men to "pay attention."
"I think we’ve advanced to the place where women can have DNA created and made into – you know, people have been working on this for quite some time. This is just the first crocodile we’ve heard of," she said. "Creating life without sperm. They’ve been working on this for quite some time. I’m not sure why they’ve been working on it, but you know, I’d pay attention if I were you, men."
Fox News' Julia Musto contributed to this report.
