'Divine Intervention?' Anaconda Gets Pregnant, Gives Birth Without Male Contact

Once the aquarium staff noticed something strange, they reported the case to a biologist, who got inside the tank where the new mother resides. The specialist discovered two babies that had survived and around a dozen stillborn snakes, according to Science Alert.

A green anaconda at the New England Aquarium in Boston surprised the staff when she gave birth to a litter of little snakes without having any contact with a male. 

The virgin birth at first may be shocking. Science Alert even mused, rhetorically, that it could have been "magic" or "divine intervention".

In fact, similar incidents have been observed by scientists before. Such births rely on a special reproductive strategy, parthenogenesis (which means "virgin birth" in Greek) that helps female anacondas self-impregnate. However, this process is more frequently observed among plants and insects. 

This comes after another pregnant snake shocked social media earlier this month by laying eggs on a street in the Indian state of Karnataka.