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A captive ophidian call up to be male person latterly gave nascence to 14 babies after almost a decade in isolation , its keepers say .
The 13 - year - old Brazilian rainbow boa ( Epicrates cenchria ) , named Ronaldo , has not been in contact with any other serpent for at least nine eld . Ronaldo was a delivery ophidian that a veteran had antecedently name as a male .
The snakelets were discovered during a routine check of a boa that staff at the college thought was a male.
" One of the students discover them during a workaday vivarium chip , " Amanda McLeod , an animal care technician at the City of Portsmouth College in the U.K. , where the snake is kept , said in a statementMonday ( June 24 ) . " At first we recollect she must have been mistaken . We could n’t believe our eye ! "
This is the third " virgin birth " recorded in a Brazilian rainbow boa .
" Ronaldo had been looking more or less fat than usual , like he ’d eaten a big meal , but we never thought for a mo that he , or should we say she , was meaning , " Pete Quinlan , a reptilian specialist at the college , say in the statement .
Related:8 brute that have vestal parturition
Virgin birth , known as parthenogeny , is a character of nonsexual procreation that takes place in a mintage that normally reproduces sexually . While rare , it ’s been record in several metal money in captivity , admit birds , sharks , lizard , other snake speciesand a crocodile .
In parthenogenesis , ballock ripe without fertilization by sperm . In some shell , ball can be fertilized by a " polar body , " which is a humble cell that take form in the generative tract at the same clock time as an egg cellular phone .
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There are several different ways virgin birth can occur , and it is unclear what mechanism triggered Ronaldo to make offspring .
" Effectively the babe are clones of their mother although their mark are all slimly different , " Quinlan said .
Ronaldo was land to City of Portsmouth College after being rehomed there by an animal welfare charity . The snakelets are now being assessed to regulate their sex and placed in Modern inclosure . Once large enough , they will be rehomed , agree to the financial statement .
