After 8 years in captivity and alone, female snake gives birth to baby snakes - Times Gazette
This water snake in Missouriâs Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center has lived in captivity with no contact with male snakes for 8 years in the least now. And, she has managed to give birth to baby snakes, for the second consecutive year. Â Researchers at the Missouri Center believe that the snake may also be the first in her species to experience âvirgin birthsâ which is more common in insects according Jordi Brostoski, a naturalist. Brostoski also added that this does not happen very often in snakes.
In more scientific expression, the virgin birth of the snake is a process that involves asexual reproduction known as parthenogenesis wherein a female produces babies with genetic contribution from male members. Â A polar body can function nearly like a sperm to fertilize the egg.
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