Anacondas Born to ‘Virgin Mother’ at Boston Aquarium

Anna, a female green anaconda that has lived most of her life in an all-female enclosure at the New England Aquarium, has given birth. The anaconda produced 18 snakes in early January. A DNA test has confirmed that the births were a result of a nonsexual reproduction process known as parthenogenesis, or “virgin birth,” according to the aquarium. Parthenogenesis commonly occurs in the plant world and among animals without a backbone, but is rare among vertebrates. The process has been...

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