July 3, 2024, 3:08 am | Read time: 3 minutes
It doesn’t get much stranger than this: A male Brazilian rainbow boa named Ronaldo has given birth to 14 babies. This happened despite the fact that “he” had not been in contact with any other members of his species for nine years. What’s behind this incredible story?
Rainbow boas live in Central and South America. They have also found their way into the terrariums and vivariums of reptile keepers. This includes Ronaldo, a rainbow boa that lives in an enclosure at a Portsmouth college. There, he gave birth to 14 babies through self-fertilization, in what could be described as a “miracle birth”.
Ronaldo, the rainbow boa, isn’t really a “he”
An article from the City of Portsmouth College stated that students and staff were astonished to find that the six-foot-long (1.83-meter) boa had given birth to 14 babies in his vivarium. Referring to Ronaldo as a “she” doesn’t seem to fit. The reason being that Ronaldo was initially declared a male by a vet. However, there are now 14 “significant pieces of evidence” that show that Ronaldo is most likely a female.
The strange thing is that, according to the college’s announcement, Ronaldo the rainbow boa has not had any contact with other boas for nine years. Pete Quinlan, the college’s reptile specialist, was therefore consulted and understandably shocked.
“I’ve been breeding snakes for 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said in a statement. Ronaldo only looked a little fatter, as if he had eaten a big meal, “but we never thought he – or rather she – was pregnant.”
How Ronaldo, the rainbow boa, managed to self-fertilize
Behind Ronaldo’s birthing is a biological phenomenon called parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. It was previously described as being extremely rare and a freak of nature, but we now know of over 80 species that can reproduce without a partner.
Ronaldo is not the first Brazilian red rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria) in which this phenomenon has been seen. Back in 2013, a captive specimen called Pantanal was scientifically investigated after it gave birth without a partner.1 A Colombian rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus), a different species from the same family as Ronaldo’s, has also given birth several times through parthenogenesis.2
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Cloning through chromosome transfer
Reptile expert Pete Quinlan has examined the babies in detail. He provided the first explanation as to what type of unisexual reproduction could be involved. “The offspring are essentially clones of their mother, albeit with slight variations in their markings,” he says in the press release. If he is right, then there has been a complete transfer of the mother’s chromosome set.
“This presents an extraordinary learning opportunity for the students with regard to the development of snake hatchlings,” adds Quinlan. The 14 young snakes will now be provided with individual enclosures and have their genders identified. The hope is that their gender will be determined more conclusively than that of the initial sexing of their mother. As far as records show, she continues to be named Ronaldo.