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RE: Sperm Retention?

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Posted by: JP at Wed Jun 27 09:48:11 2007   [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by JP ]  
   

Its an interesting case...

BPs do retain sperm, and there are plenty of examples of babies from one season being fathered by the father from a previous season's breeding.

It seems very unlikely that sperm can remain viable for six years. Thats hard to believe.

Now, if we rule that out, that only leaves us with parthenogenisis (mispelled, I'm sure) as the other option. There have been well documented cases of "virgin birth" in many snake species, and there was a veterinary doctor that used to post here years ago that had an unbred BP produce viable eggs.

If it were me, I'd find a nearby university and find out who in there biology department might have an interest in this topic. With their resources they could pretty easily confirm or rule out parthenogenisis. All they would need is a shed skin from mom and a few of the babies.

   

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