Boa constrictor gives birth to 14 baby snakes after living alone for nearly a decade

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Ronaldo, a 6-foot Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor kept at a school in England, was thought to be male — until the snake gave birth to 14 babies last month.

kept at a school in England, was thought to be male — until the snake gave birth to 14 babies last month.for nearly a decade, so she appears to have undergone a natural process of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis. The term is derived from the Greek words for “virgin birth.” The school said this is the third documented case of this type of birth that it is aware of from a Brazilian rainbow boa in captivity.

Quinlan said his initial thought that day, June 21, was that there had been a mistake. Although it was his day off, Quinlan went in and immediately recognized that the snakes with Ronaldo were baby rainbow boa constrictors. Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weeklyUnlike sexual reproduction, which requires sperm to fertilize an egg, parthenogenesis can involve byproducts of the process that creates eggs, called polar bodies, which are used to fill that gap. These cells get combined back into the eggs, giving the embryos two similar — but not identical — sets of DNA.

Quinlan said some researchers believe that snakes undergo parthenogenesis when females do not have a mate for most of their lives. in Illinois gave birth to a pup via parthenogenesis, after having no contact with a male shark for at least four years. And a found that California condors, a critically endangered bird species, reproduced asexually in captivity even though they had access to mates. .

 

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