Phillip C. Watts is a researcher in population genetics and conservation genetics, studying relationships between genetic variation and the environments experienced by wildlife. His research uses genomics to investigate biological responses to environmental change.[ref]
Phillip Watts research profile at the University of Jyväskylä. Introduction, Research Description and publication bylines
In a 2006 study, Phillip C. Watts and collaborators used DNA profiling to investigate offspring produced by female Komodo dragons isolated from males at two institutions. The genetic evidence supported parthenogenesis. One female later reproduced sexually, showing that a single individual could use both reproductive modes.[ref]
Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons by Phillip C. Watts and others. Abstract: genetic fingerprinting, two isolated females and subsequent sexual reproduction
The example shows why an observation of an apparently unmated female laying viable eggs needs genetic evidence. Offspring genotypes can test explanations that husbandry records alone cannot settle. Here the combination of isolation history and inherited markers supported reproductive flexibility in a vertebrate, rather than establishing a rule that every isolated female will reproduce this way.
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