Virgin Wild Snakes Found Giving Birth
- 12 years ago
Virgin Snakes Found Giving Birth - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
Wild snakes can give birth to litters of babies without being fertilized by a male. Virgin births are well documented in captivity, but now researchers know that female snakes in the wild also are able to give birth this way.
Several other animals are known to be able to generate offspring without having sex in a biological process called parthenogenesis.
After collecting pregnant snakes from the wild and studying the offspring, Professor Booth from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma found that “between 2 point 5 and 5 percent of litters produced in these populations may be resulting from parthenogenesis.”
Two female Komodo Dragons, the world’s largest lizard species, have also been able to produce fertilized eggs without the presence of a male, along with domesticated chickens, several species of captive snakes, and captive hammerhead sharks.
In 2010 the BBC reported on a captive female captive boa snake who gave birth through parthenogenesis to two litters that were not only all female, but also carried an odd form of sex chromosomes, something that scientists previously thought impossible, except through the use of genetic manipulation.
Wild snakes can give birth to litters of babies without being fertilized by a male. Virgin births are well documented in captivity, but now researchers know that female snakes in the wild also are able to give birth this way.
Several other animals are known to be able to generate offspring without having sex in a biological process called parthenogenesis.
After collecting pregnant snakes from the wild and studying the offspring, Professor Booth from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma found that “between 2 point 5 and 5 percent of litters produced in these populations may be resulting from parthenogenesis.”
Two female Komodo Dragons, the world’s largest lizard species, have also been able to produce fertilized eggs without the presence of a male, along with domesticated chickens, several species of captive snakes, and captive hammerhead sharks.
In 2010 the BBC reported on a captive female captive boa snake who gave birth through parthenogenesis to two litters that were not only all female, but also carried an odd form of sex chromosomes, something that scientists previously thought impossible, except through the use of genetic manipulation.