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Published online 20 December 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news061218-7
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Dragon virgin births startle zoo keepers
Non-sexual reproduction could lower the fitness of captive animals.
A nativity story with a twist is playing out this Christmas in two zoos in the UK. At Chester Zoo, a Komodo dragon named Flora awaits the birth of eight babies, and another four dragons have already hatched at London Zoo — each and every one the product of a virgin conception.
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