Dragon update

PZ Myers at Pharyngula has more on the genetics of the parthenogenetic Komodo Dragons here.

Previously I wondered aloud how all this worked.

Biology 101: Sex is far more complicated than I ever thought. Meiosis (so I've learned) is, in the normal course of events, a two-stage process that produces four haploid gametes. Somehow the second stage of this is skipped in these lizards producing full diploid eggs.

Yeah, I don't get it either. But due to my efforts I'm now approaching my previous junior-high-school level of understanding.

Which was, incidentally, just before I figured out that I didn't want any truck with that sort of sex stuff anyway.

Interesting facts gleaned from PZ's post:

• The way gender determination works in the Komodo Dragons means that all the babies are boys. They are unlike the Virgin Whiptail lizards that sustain themselves as a species of females.

• They had to do a DNA analysis to determine whether these were really parthenogenetic. Female lizards can retain viable sperm for months until they're damn well ready.

Related: Another dragon.