Boa Constrictors Can Have Babies Without Mating, New Evidence Shows

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103111210.htm


Summary

In this article, scientists found baby boa constrictors that had no male influence. The scientists noticed that the female babies had the same rare coloring as the mother, which was a ressesive gene. This finding was the first that occured in reptiles. The evidence was in the sex chromosomes. Where a normal boa constrictors genes would be ZZ for male and ZW for female, the asexually reproduced babies had WW, which would have only been possible from asexual reproduction. This means the boa constrictor can go through either sexual or asexual reproduction when needed.

Opinion

I thought this was very interesting because it's not something you would expect to happen in a boa constrictor. It's really hard not to believe, because of all the evidence the scientists have come up with. This article makes me wonder what other animals are capable of asexual reproduction, and what animals use both sexual and asexual reproduction. It makes me want to go do some research, and then go get a boa constrictor. Also, if all reptiles can reproduce asexually, could mammals? Or any other group of animals?