Virgin births discovered in wild snakes

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19555550


A virgin female and her son

A form of virgin birth has been found in wild vertebrates for the first time.

Researchers in the US caught pregnant females from two snake species and genetically analysed the litters.

That proved the North American pit vipers reproduced without a male, a phenomenon called facultative parthenogenesis that has previously been found only in captive species.

[longship]

1. Dick Cheney told those snakes to go Eff themselves.

So they did.

R&K for more cool science.

[Nihil]

2. So the snake said to Eve: "Bet you can't do this" ...

Eve replied: "In a couple of thousand years people will believe otherwise ..."

[CRH]

3. Hail Mary! I've wondered how Republicans keep their numbers steady. n/t

[Javaman]

4. So maybe the snake-handler worshipers are onto something...

[Yo_Mama]

5. This isn't a new discovery for vertebrates

They've known about parthenogenesis in lizards, for example, for many years.

Link to 1971 paper on the subject.
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/2/361.short

If lizards are not vertebrates, I give up and crawl back into my time capsule. I never thought I would see the old become new again within my own lifetime.

[happyslug]

6. Later on in the article, they mention the other lizards giving birth Parhenogenesis

Thus NOT the first time in vertebrae:

It was thought to be extremely rare for a normally sexual species to reproduce asexually.

First identified in domestic chickens, such "virgin births" have been reported in recent years in a few snake, shark, lizard and bird species.

[Yo_Mama]

7. Headline syndrome

Part of the extremely bad scientific reporting.

[Kablooie]

8. The Second Coming is here! The Rapture is nigh!

but why did he come back as a snake? Hmmm. Something wrong here.

Hand me that apple, sweety.