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Life Will Find A Way

It may sound like the stuff of movies, but it’s somewhat close to real life in Missouri. Not with dinosaurs, but with a yellow-bellied watersnake at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center. When animal care intern Kyle Morton cleaned the snake’s cage one morning, he found something unusual.

“I thought, ‘what joker put tomatoes in here for the snake.'”

What looked like small tomatoes were membranes deposited by the female snake. The snake was going through a process called parthenogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction in which offspring develops from unfertilized eggs. It occurs in many insect orders, most commonly with bees, wasps and stick insects. It also occurs in some species of fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles, but not in mammals.

The snake has been a resident at the nature center for eight years, which is too long for it to have stored sperm according to Missouri Department of Conservation herpetologists.

“She acted normal other than not eating for several weeks, so it definitely took me by surprise.”

Morton reported his find to one of the naturalists at the center, who verified what it was. The snake did the same thing last summer, giving birth to two now healthy year-old watersnakes. Naturalist JordiBrostoski found the membranes when it first happened.

“At first I thought the snake had regurgitated something until I looked at it closer. That’s when I realized what had happened and then the hatchling snakes surprised me by slithering under the bedding in the cage.”

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, parthenogenesis can occur in both captive and wild situations and it doesn’t seem to impact the health of the female snake. However, this species of snake has not been documented as participants in parthenogenesis until now.

Published accounts of this form of reproduction have included many species of snakes.  As more genetic work is conducted, it may turn out that parthenogenesis is more widespread than scientists have thought in the past.

Brostoski says that “[i]t’s exciting to witness such an odd phenomenon of nature and it’s even more exciting to share this experience at our nature center, where people come to learn and explore nature.” 

The yellow-bellied watersnake’s offspring didn’t survive this year, possibly due to the combination of chromosomes. However, last year’s two young ones are thriving and serving as educational reptiles for the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center. 

More information about the center can be found at mdc.mo.gov/capenaturecenter.

More information about snakes in Missouri can be found in the MDC’s online field guide at mdc.mo.gov.

Candice Davis is the former host of Discover Nature on KRCU. Her goal is to help people to discover nature and learn to appreciate the many outdoor opportunities Missouri has to offer. Candice knows that people who spend time in the outdoors are generally less stressed, more thankful, healthier and more successful in life. Children who spend time outdoors have better grades and are more physically active. It’s Candice’s goal to inspire Missourians to discover nature in their everyday lives through stories of butterflies, elk, tupelo trees, alligator gar and other marvels of nature on KRCU’s Discover Nature program.