Quote Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls
The mechanism in Komodo dragons occurs by a secondary polar body fusing with the the mature ovum. The offspring of this cross are always male and are not clones of their mother. They are homozygous at ever loci however(this is why they are all male reptiles-ZZ). This reduces the genetic diversity as mention in the nature article.

In the Burmese report the exact mechanism is unknown as far as I know. But all the offspring are clones and genetically identical to their mother. However, these clones lose none of the genetic diversity (i.e. the heterozygousity of their mother--and This is why they are all female-ZW)
Great info! I'm curious, though, has there been any research to show what initiates the mechanism? Do all females possess this ability, or do you think it's a genetic trait that only select individuals possess? Also, is it believed to be a function of most reptiles, or only those species that may have needed it for their survival?