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A 62-year-old python laid seven eggs without being near a male for at least two decades. The unusual episode happened in Saint Louis Zoo, in the US state of Missouri, and puzzles experts, who are trying to find out how it happened.
The person in charge of herpetology, A zoology specialty that studies reptiles and amphibians, the zoo says such a situation is unusual, but the species may reproduce asexually, it explained to the Associated Press. Mark Wanner also pointed out that snakes sometimes store sperm to delay fertilization.
Another reason that birth is unusual is that python snakes normally stop laying eggs long before they reach 60 years of age. This is “definitely the oldest snake we know of in history” to lay eggs, Wanner said. She is also the oldest living in a zoo.
Python laid all seven eggs on July 23, three of which remain in an incubator, two were used for genetic testing, and two did not survive. The eggs should hatch within a month and the two that were collected for genetic testing will test whether they were sexually reproduced or not.
The Saint Louis Zoo has another python, a male about 31 years old. None are in public view. The female that laid seven eggs was offered by a private individual to the zoo in 1961. In 2009 she had already laid several eggs, but they did not survive.
