Komodo dragons and eel-like prehistoric sharks

In the science news today... who needs men! Yes, Flora (a female Komodo dragon) apparently didn't require the male of the species to help her produce five fertilized eggs. Today, five little Komodo dragons (aw, so cute, till they bite you, of course) hatched at the Chester Zoo in London. Scientists announced in December in the journal Nature that Flora had fertilised the eggs herself, without any male help, in a process culminating in parthenogenesis or virgin birth. The baby dragons, all males, are being cared for in a special area of the zoo and feasting on a diet of crickets and locusts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/sc_nm/shark_japan_dc_2 reported that the Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman who spotted an odd-looking ee-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth. They caught the 5 foot long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark (sometimes called a "living fossil" because of its prehistoric appearance. Alas, the poor thing expired not long after they moved it to a seawater pool, but they were able to film it in motion. They normally live 600-1,000 meters under the water, where humans just can't go. Here are some neat photos, and check out various news sites for videos. CNN at http://www.cnn.com/ has a video of it (really weird) as does the BBC on their science page at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm. You may need to search around as it will get shuffled around, but the Beeb is good at keeping stuff online for a while. I mean, can't you just see this critter on Atlantis....