The longest ever species of snake is the Python! Species of Python can be found all over the world originating from India to Burma and even Africa.
The World’s Longest; Thelma is an 11 year old reticulated female Python that lives in the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky. She weighs an incredible 200 pounds (91Kg) and stretches up to 20 feet long (6 metres).
The Python reticulatus are an ancient old species of python known to be currently the largest in the snake animal kingdom. They were discovered in Southeast Asia and have average lifespan of 15-20 years though some have been known to live up to 30 years. The average adult reticulated python usually grow up to 10 to 20 feet long.
Virgin Birth
In 2012 Thelma was documentated to have given birth to 6 of her own through virgin birth. Virgin births requiring no mating have started to become popular amongst animals such as the boas, birds, sharks and more including other snakes!
The fatherless reproduction normally requiring 2 mates to reproduce young is called parthenogenesis. Such a phenomenon occurs when polar bodies, or cells produced with the animal’s egg that usually die or disappear, behave like sperm and fuse with the egg itself.
The recent uproar in Thelma’s virgin birth was never seen before in Pythons until now. Parthenogenesis is still a mystery however it has been hypothesised that geographical isolation from males is a significant factor.