Word of the Day: Parthenogenesis

[Pedaling Fool]

Oops, I did it again.... http://abc7.com/science/captive-snak...-again/989398/

Excerpt:

"For the second time in two years, a captive snake in southeast Missouri has given birth without any interaction with a member of the opposite sex.

Officials at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center say a female yellow-bellied water snake reproduced on her own in 2014 and again this summer. The snake has been living in captivity, without a male companion, for nearly eight years. An intern who cares for the snake found the freshly laid membranes in July."

[rocketsocks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijEsqT2QKQ

[Pedaling Fool]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijEsqT2QKQ

It's just a movie, I know, but those words are so true and profound.

Life finds a way.

[Kenai]

Some species will change sex if there is need to.

Grouper are one.

If you can do that, its only one small step to solo reproduction Id say.

So I suppose that this gives new meaning to the expression, "to go reproduce oneself"?

[Traveler]

So I suppose that this gives new meaning to the expression, "to go reproduce oneself"?

It sure adds credence to my usual explanation when I see them, "Jesus, snakes!"

[Pedaling Fool]

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151...ing-everywhere


Interesting story on parthenogenesis


Excerpt:

We have written before about the strange but spectacular phenomenon of virgin births, or "parthenogenesis" as it's known.Some animals are fully asexual and do not need a male to give birth: for instance, some species of whiptail lizards. But there are also animals that can mate with a male, but do not always do so, and they are the ones we are considering.

Here we report four new cases published in the scientific literature in 2015. They all point to the idea that, even in sexually-reproducing species, many animals have long been able to go it alone.......


.......It is generally believed that parthenogenesis arises in lizards through hybridization: when two related species mate, resulting in a new species. All the offspring of these hybrids are then female.Now that males have been found, it suggests this may not be the case. Instead parthenogenesis could have arisen spontaneously due to environmental pressures, says de Souza.

His analysis also suggests Muller's tegus have been doing it – or rather, not doing it – for four million years. "It contradicts previous studies, which proposed that parthenogenetic organisms have low genetic variation and, consequently, low evolutionary success," says de Souza.

[imscotty]

More virgin births...

http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/09/what-h...#ixzz3zikTpClb

[George]

Some species will change sex if there is need to.
.

"call me Caitlyn"