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Virgin births really happen — here are the animals that prove it

Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer

2015-09-12T15:00:00Z

A child touches her pregnant mother's stomach at the last stages of her pregnancy in Bordeaux April 28, 2010. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau — A child touches her pregnant mother's stomach at the last stages of her pregnancy in Bordeaux Thomson Reuters

Yes, you read that right.

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Virgin birth is a thing, and it's been happening for millennia in some animals.

It's something called parthenogenesis, which basically just means reproduction without fertilization. The mother provides both sets of the DNA necessary to create an embryo, which is typically female.

Here are the animals that are capable of having offspring that's genetically all theirs.

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At first, people thought that virgin births happened only in extreme environments, when animals felt pressure to perpetuate their species. That included animals in captivity, like Thelma the python (not pictured), who had 6 babies in 2012 without ever coming in contact with a male python.

Python

But scientists have figured out that animals in the wild can also have virgin births. Back in 1966, scientists discovered that wild whiptail lizards were capable of making their own female offspring.

whiptail lizard

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In theory, parthenogenesis poses a big problem for genetic diversity. In 2006, scientists learned that two female Komodo dragons were capable of producing offspring when separated from male dragons. Luckily, the female dragons could switch between virgin births and sexual reproduction if males were around.

Komodo Dragons

Genetic diversity in a species is important for fending off diseases and maintaining a growing population. This bonnethead shark is one of the types of sharks that can reproduce asexually (by parthenogenesis) in captivity.

Gfp bonnethead shark

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So if a species relied on super-similar genetics, then its chances of being completely wiped out are very high, which worries scientists. But that shouldn't be a big problem for the pit viper — which can also reproduces through parthenogenesis in the wild — because there are plenty of males for females to mate with.

Pit viper snake

Other egg-laying animals, like domesticated turkeys and chickens, have also been able to produce offspring without mating. In the 1950s, scientists discovered that unfertilized turkey eggs could develop embryos through parthenogenesis.

GettyImages 452099995

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The insect world is also known to have virgin births. In 2008, researchers found that in the case of Cape honeybees in South Africa, the virgin queen bee was able to make both male and female baby bees.

Cape honey bee on Oxalis

Mammals, for the most part, aren't capable of virgin births. But in 2004, researchers figured out a way to make mice reproduce via parthenogenesis.

lab mouse mice rat

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And what about humans? It's not likely to happen any time soon, researchers say. And if it does, it won't happen without scientists tweaking our genes. But that doesn't mean it's not a possibility.

An employee applies massage oil on the bare belly of a pregnant client before her photo shoot at maternity photo studio "Ixchel" in Tokyo July 31, 2009. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon — To match Reuters Life! story JAPAN-MATERNITYNUDES/ Thomson Reuters

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