Virgin births may be common among snakes
A new review provides intriguing insights on parthenogenesis, or virgin birth, in snakes.
A new review provides intriguing insights on parthenogenesis, or virgin birth, in snakes.
Plants & Animals
Jan 4, 2016
0
11
Starfish that reproduce through cloning avoid ageing to a greater extent than those that propagate through sexual reproduction. This is shown by a new research study in which researchers from the University of Gothenburg ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 25, 2015
0
215
Imagine how easy life would be if you could produce offspring without a mate. Sexual reproduction is the most common mating system in the animal kingdom. But in many species, females do not require males to produce offspring ...
Other
Feb 13, 2015
2
24
(Phys.org)—Sex or no sex? Using various species of the evening primrose (Oenothera) as his model, Jesse Hollister, a former University of Toronto post-doctoral fellow, and his colleagues have demonstrated strong support ...
Evolution
Jan 12, 2015
7
62
(Phys.org) —A pair of researches with Kyoto University has found how the queen of one species of termite, Reticulitermes speratus, ensures her genetic lineage continues by creating duplicate copies of herself. In their ...
In Lewis Carroll's 1871 classic novel Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen tells Alice: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2014
4
0
Though some might disagree, most biologists think the purpose of sex is to create diversity among offspring. Such diversity underpins evolution, enabling organisms to acquire new combinations of traits to adapt to their environment.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 10, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org)—Diatoms (unicellular photosynthetic organisms) reproduce through asexual cell division alternating with short periods of sexual reproduction. A German and Belgian team has now determined that pheromones play ...
Biochemistry
Dec 14, 2012
0
0
Biology textbooks maintain that the main function of sex is to promote genetic diversity. But Henry Heng, Ph.D., associate professor in WSU's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, says that's not the case.
Evolution
Jul 7, 2011
14
0
In a finding that upends decades of scientific theory on reptile reproduction, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that female boa constrictors can squeeze out babies without mating.
Plants & Animals
Nov 3, 2010
3
0