'Ronaldo looked bigger than usual': Boa believed to be male gives birth to 14 baby snakes on its own

Ce boa arc-en-ciel a donné naissance alors qu'il vivait seul depuis neuf ans http://imagebroker.com/#/search/8252102

At an English university, a snake wrongly believed to be male gave birth to 14 babies. This is a very rare example of parthenogenesis.

At the University of Portsmouth, in England, a snake previously considered to be a male and which had not come into contact with any other snake for nine years, gave birth to 14 rainbow boas.

"I’I have been breeding snakes for fifty years and have never seen this happen before" testifies Pete Quinlan, reptile specialist interviewed by < em>The Guardian. Named Ronaldo, the animal native to South America spontaneously gave birth to its young. This "miraculous birth" is actually a very rare example of parthenogenesis: a type of reproduction that does not require the intervention of & rsquo;a male, the embryos developing on their own in the female.

"We are all still in shock!"

This reptile seemed larger than usual, "as if it had eaten a large meal, but we “We never thought for a moment that he, or should we say she, was pregnant”, Pete Quinlan tells Portsmouth News. The boa had, however, been declared as male by a veterinarian thirteen years ago before being entrusted to university students two years ago.

"We are all still in shock!", writes the establishment on Instagram by sharing a video of Ronaldo and his little ones. "This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about the development of baby snakes", adds Pete Quinlan .