The female American crocodile laid 14 eggs in 2018 inside her enclosure in Costa Rica. One of the eggs contained a fully formed baby crocodile that had been stillborn.
Scientists analyzed the genetic makeup of the crocodile fetus. They found DNA sequences that showed it was the result of facultative parthenogenesis (PF) FP is reproduction without the genetic contribution of males, which has been documented in other species of fish, birds, lizards and snakes. It could bring new information about crocodiles that walked the Earth in the Triassic Period.