When males are not needed - 6 Minute English

Many animals can reproduce without having sex. Does it bring any advantage to the species that do that? Neil and Rob talk about science, listen to an evolutionary biologist and teach you vocabulary along the way. This week’s question: In Britain’s Chester Zoo in 2006, ‘Flora’ laid eleven eggs that developed into healthy babies. Her zookeepers were mystified because Flora had only been kept with other females and had never been near a male. But what type of animal was Flora? a) a python b) a zebra shark c) a Komodo dragon Listen to the programme to find out the answer. Vocabulary mate an animal’s sexual partner celibate not having sex paradox situation which seems contradictory or impossible because it contains two opposite facts hatch when an egg breaks open in order to allow the young animal to come out the best of both worlds situation where you can enjoy the advantages of very different things at the same time hed