Virgin Birth, a Mystery
A virgin birth is something totally unexpected, and not so easy to accept either. But an 11-year-old reticulated python named Thelma has given birth to six baby snakes without mating with a male. A virgin birth has been documented for the first time in this species, Malayopython reticulatus , which holds the world record for “longest snake ever ” in captivity.
The 200-pound, 20-foot snake(thelma) has been without mating for 4 years in the louisville zoo. In the summer of 2012, Thelma laid a clutch of 61 eggs, and she spent two weeks coiled up and brooding them before zoo staff removed the eggs for examination. The zoo curator Bill McMahan says, “It is not uncommon for a snake to lay infertile eggs, so the staff was surprised when the eggs appeared to be full and healthy instead of shrunken and discolored shells, typical of infertile reptile eggs”.
On september 12 the first six of the healthy eggs hatched all of them being healthy. Now here is something new for scientists to study on. And beware guys, in some long future girls might just avoid us(oh my god).
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