Life

Invasive Burmese python in Florida lays a record 96 eggs in one go

A female Burmese python – an invasive species in the US – has laid a clutch of 96 eggs in one go, almost double the average for these snakes

By Alice Klein

4 April 2023

The 96 eggs laid by one Burmese python were dried for preservation after hatching
US Geological Survey

A free-ranging Burmese python in Florida has laid 96 eggs in one go – the biggest number ever documented for this species.

Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are native to South-East Asia, but tens of thousands now live in the Everglades and surrounding areas in southern Florida, after some that were imported as pets escaped in the 1970s and established a breeding population.

Amy Yackel Adams at the US Geological Survey and her colleagues are tracking several females as part of a study to…