New research from Wits University in Johannesburg has found that the Southern African python is the first egg-laying snake shown to care for its babies, the university announced on March 13.

The research, conducted by Prof Graham Alexander from the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, found that the reptiles “not only incubate their eggs, but they also stay at the nest, caring for their babies for about two weeks after the eggs have hatched.” The behavior comes at “great cost” to the females, the study said.

“The females do not eat at all during the breeding cycle – a period of more than six months – and lose about 40 percent of their body mass over this time,” the university said. Credit: Wits University via Storyful