The mystery of how a female anteater fell pregnant despite being separated from her mate for more than 18 months is a step closer to being solved.
Bosses at Connecticut’s LEO Zoological Conservation Center were left baffled after mom Armani gave birth to little Archie in April.
The apparent “Virgin birth” stumped staff — as anteaters have a six-month gestation period and the critter had not been in contact with any males for more than triple that time.
Workers wondered whether it was an immaculate anteater conception or if the male, Alf, had somehow sneaked into her pen sometime in October.
But center director Marcella Leone now believes the newcomer was actually conceived through “embryonic diapause” — when a mother puts a fertilized egg on hold in her uterus.
It happens when environmental conditions aren’t right, so the mother can keep the egg safe until they are.
Armadillos and sloths are known to do it, but anteaters have never been observed doing so, reports Greenwich Time.
