Who needs a man? A female crocodile has made herself pregnant in a Costa Rican zoo, a phenomenon that has never been seen in crocodiles before.

Although the crocodile was kept in Parque Reptilania away from other crocodiles, it didn’t stop this one from producing a fully-formed foetus.

Five years after the egg was laid, scientists from Virginia Tech found the foetus was 99.9% genetically indexical to the mother, confirming that it has no father.

Scientists studying the egg, laid by an 18-year-old American crocodile in 2018, said the asexual trait could be inherited through its evolutionary ancestor, meaning dinosaurs could have been capable of self-reproduction.

“Virgin birth” or parthenogenesis has been observed in species like sharks, birds, snakes, and lizards, but never in crocodiles before because scientists weren’t specifically looking for instances of it.

A theory says that parthenogenesis is capable when a species nears the verge of extinction. This could be good news for crocodiles who want to avoid going out like their dinosaur ancestors.

What do you make of this phenomenon?