A snake previously believed to be male has given birth to 14 snakelets despite not having a mate. BBC reported that Ronaldo, a 13-year-old boa constrictor at City of Portsmouth College, surprised everyone by producing the tiny reptiles.
Pete Quinlan, an animal care technician at the college, had thought Ronaldo was male until the birth occurred. He confirmed that "she had not had contact with a male" snake in the nine years he has cared for her.
This phenomenon, known as parthenogenesis, has only been documented three times in Brazilian rainbow boa constrictors.
"I rescued Ronaldo about nine years ago from the RSPCA," Mr Quinlan told BBC.
He mentioned that he began working in animal care at the college two years ago and brought his collection of snakes with him.
Mr Quinlan explained that he was not present on the day of the births: "One of the students informed a staff member that there were baby snakes moving around inside one of the tanks."
"I raced down here to see what was going on and low and behold there were baby snakes everywhere."
Virgin births do occur in the animal kingdom. Many invertebrates, such as insects, can reproduce asexually, producing offspring without mating.
They typically achieve this by cloning themselves, resulting in genetically identical offspring. In February, a stingray in the US became pregnant without a mate. Among vertebrates, like snakes, this phenomenon is still rare.
