For the second year in a row, a watersnake in Missouri gave birth without having had any contact with any male snakes (for the last eight years). (Nice.)
Researchers at the Missouri Department of Conservation believe that this snake may be the first of her species to experience “virgin births.” Parthenogenesis—a kind of asexual reproduction in which females give birth without any male genetic contribution—is more commonly seen in insects.
“She’s at that age where she’s completely able to reproduce... It seems like a reproductive survival technique,” Brostoski said. “Without a male, she wants to go ahead and produce offspring. That’s what she’s driven to do.”
