Fatherless dragons hatched in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The virgin birth of two Komodo dragons at a Kansas zoo is being consider as neither miraculous nor that unusual.

The two baby lizards hatched at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita are the first to be produced in North America through a biological process known as parthenogesis that has been recorded twice before.

"We never had a male dragon at the zoo," reptile curator Nate Nelson told the Wichita Eagle Thursday. "And there were no tramps that came wandering through, either."

Parthenogesis doesn't require a male. The process occurs in plants and some lower animals, although scientists say it can happen now and then in some vertebrate species.

Nevertheless, keepers are delighted with the unexpected arrivals and are eager to see how they fare in a single-parent household.