A 6-foot Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor named Ronaldo initially believed to be male, gave birth to 14 babies through parthenogenesis, a rare form of asexual reproduction, despite not having contact with another snake for nearly a decade.
The event, confirmed as the third documented case of a Brazilian rainbow boa giving birth through parthenogenesis in captivity, occurred at the City of Portsmouth College in England, where Ronaldo resides.
Pete Quinlan, an animal technician at the college with 50 years of experience working with snakes, was shocked to discover the baby snakes with Ronaldo on June 21, initially thinking the snake was just overeating.
Parthenogenesis involves the development of embryos without fertilization and can result in embryos with two similar but not identical sets of DNA, occurring naturally in various animals, plants, and algae, and involving the merging of polar bodies into eggs, producing clones of the mother.
The remaining baby snakes from Ronaldo's litter will be cared for by the college until they are ready for new homes.
In 2019, a green anaconda gave birth through parthenogenesis at an aquarium in Boston.
Ronaldo was acquired from an animal welfare charity.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: NBC News, RocketNews, AOL, News9live.