A surprising twist occurred when a boa constrictor named Ronaldo, previously thought to be male, recently gave birth to 14 snakelets at City of Portsmouth College. Pete Quinlan, an animal care technician at the college, had always considered Ronaldo male until this unexpected event. Quinlan revealed that Ronaldo had never been in contact with a male snake during the nine years he had cared for her. This phenomenon, where reproduction occurs without mating, is known as parthenogenesis and has only been documented three times in Brazilian rainbow boa constrictors.
“Ronaldo was rescued from the RSPCA about nine years ago,” Mr. Quinlan recounted. He continued, explaining that he brought his collection of snakes with him when he started working in animal care at the college two years ago. On the day of the unexpected births, Mr. Quinlan wasn’t present at the facility. “A student alerted a staff member that there were baby snakes moving inside one of the tanks,” he recalled. “I hurried down to investigate, and to my surprise, baby snakes were scattered everywhere.”
Virgin births, known as parthenogenesis, are a phenomenon observed in various animal species. Invertebrates, such as insects, are notable examples capable of reproducing asexually by cloning themselves to produce genetically identical offspring. This process occurs without the need for mating.
In a notable incident, a stingray in the US became pregnant in February without any contact with a male. Such occurrences are more commonly observed among invertebrates than vertebrate animals like snakes, where parthenogenesis remains a fascinating rarity.