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

Yes, you read that right.

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.

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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.

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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.

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