Snake stores sperm for five years before giving birth

摘要

FAMILY planning campaigners looking for a mascot should consider the eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake. A female of the species can store sperm In her body for at least five years before using It. The rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) in question was collected in Florida in 2005 and kept in a private collection for five years, with no contact with other snakes. In late 2010, she unexpectedly gave birth to 19 snakelets. To find out what had happened. Warren Booth of North Carolina State University in Raleigh took samples of DN A from the mother and her young.