It usually takes two snakes — a female and a male — to make a litter of baby copperheads. But research now shows that copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) and their venomous cousins cottonmouths ...

Last winter, two female Komodo dragons at separate zoos in England gave their keepers big surprises. With no contact from any male, each of the giant lizards laid a clutch of viable eggs, some of ...

The California condor is one of the rarest birds in the world, but now it seems that nature is giving it an unexpected leg-up. Scientists have discovered two condor chicks that were born from ...

Earlier this year, Charlotte the stingray became a minor internet celebrity. The staff at her North Carolina aquarium claimed that she was pregnant, and that she hadn’t come into contact with a male ...

Some female animals can reproduce without males through a process called parthenogenesis. Here are a few examples. Aphids: These tiny insects use parthenogenesis to produce live offspring quickly, ...

Scientists have reported the first known "virgin births" in California condors — two chicks that hatched without any males involved in fertilizing the eggs. Researchers recently made the unexpected ...

IN the “concluding remarks” in his treatise on “Wahre Parthenogenesis” (1856), von Siebold says, “Es ist daher jetzt Aufgabe der Entomologen, nach weiteren Beispielen von Parthenogenesis in der ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Of all the fascinating processes in nature, reproduction may be it's crowning achievement, and parthenogenesis is perhaps the most unusual and unique form. Translated from its Latin ...

Wild female pit vipers can reproduce without a male, suggesting that virgin births may take place in nature far more than before thought. Asexual reproduction is common among invertebrates — that is, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I'm an American writer working in fiction and nonfiction. This article is more than 3 years old. A California Condor soars along ...