Snakes: they’re even more terrifying than you thought.
A reticulated python—the world’s longest snake—named Thelma has had the species’ first documented “virgin birth.”
The eleven-year-old snake gave birth to six daughters in 2012 at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, after living only with one other female python, the Courier-Journal reported.
A DNA test confirmed that Thelma is the only parent.
According to National Geographic, virgin births have been observed in an increasing number of species, including sharks, boas, garter snakes, and birds. Until now, they had never been witnessed in reticulated pythons.
Her offspring are “half-clones,” and have little chance of surviving in the wild, since they are inbred.
The “virgin birth” capability is probably a survival instinct, triggered by the correct conditions.
This form of reproduction is called “parthenogenesis” and occurs when certain cells within the female’s egg that would otherwise die instead act as sperm to fertilize the egg.
“It’s not a rare event,” University of Tulsa professor Warren Booth told the Courier-Journal. “It actually appears to be very common.”
