ernie, i was also curious about gary's post and the "blind worm." not being a herpetologist but simply an amateur naturalist, i can tell you however that there are a few species of all-female, self-cloning reps. growing up in brazil, i remember reading about an isolated population of snakes in a tiny island off the coast of Sao Paulo (rattlesnake maybe? my memory might be faulty there) that are parthenogenic. i believe there's also geckos and other lizards that are parthenogenic. tsuh yang --- Ernie O'Byrne <eob@peak.org> wrote: > Are you sure that it is actually a snake? I would > like to know more. Does it > have scales. It is the first I have heard of a > parthenogenic reptile. Not to > say that it doesn't exist, just that I am surprised > to have not heard of it > before, being an amateur herpetologist in my early > years. > Ernie O'Byrne > -----Original Message----- > Gary in Hilo, HI, where we do not have gophers or > moles but do have a snake > called locally the blind worm. It lives mostly > underground, is > parthenogenic (there are no males), gets about > 6"/15cm long, and eats > termites, ants, and other arthropods. I find them > in my compost piles > usually. They are wonderful! __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/