Geckos give up sex, get stronger

Sex isn't all it's cracked up to be -- at least, not if you're a Bynoe’s gecko (a species from Australia.) These lizards gave up sex a long time ago and reproduce by parthenogenesis -- cloning. The entire species consists of one sex -- female.

And as a survival strategy, it gave them a lot of advantages:

Super Geckos Excel without Sex
By Michael Schirber
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 07 June 2005

Geckos that forego sex and instead clone themselves are able to run farther and faster than relatives that reproduce the more conventional way.

"This is extraordinary," said Kellar Autumn from Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. "The traditional theory is that when a species gives up sex and reproduces through cloning, the offspring will have reduced performance."

Parthenogenetic animals, which create exact copies of themselves, are all females: mothers cloning daughters. Autumn and colleagues studied the parthogenetic Bynoe’s gecko from Australia.

www.livescience.com...

Personally, I don't think I'm ready to give up men in exchange for being able to run marathons.


[edit on 10-6-2005 by Byrd]

wow...I always thought that cloning led to a deteriation of DNA over a decent amount of time.
I wonder how the whole cloning system started though, I'm guessing some form of mutation or such like.

Originally posted by Byrd

Personally, I don't think I'm ready to give up men in exchange for being able to run marathons.


[edit on 10-6-2005 by Byrd]

oh and dont forget sex. who wants to give up sex geeeez.

could some1 please enlighten me here????
i didnt know species as evolved as a lizard could clone themselves(sorry forgot about the lizards that rule the multiverse:lol
could some one please post how this process works??

Originally posted by Heratix
could some one please post how this process works??

To be honest its a big bonus for the species, not endorsing it for humanity though.
The lizard lays eggs, thats still the method of birth, its just the baby lizards are copies of the mother lizard.

There are some advantages to a parthenogenic lifestyle:
* All members of your species can lay eggs and reproduction is more efficient
* Good mutations are passed on more efficiently in clones than in sexual species
* You don't waste a lot of time and energy searching for a mate (this might not be true in this species, since the females do pair up)

From this site

Wouldnt this slow down evolution?

Originally posted by tomcat ha
Wouldnt this slow down evolution?

From Byrds quote:

Geckos that forego sex and instead clone themselves are able to run farther and faster than relatives that reproduce the more conventional way.

It gives them a edge over other similar lizards

And from my quote:

Good mutations are passed on more efficiently in clones than in sexual species

Their process of reproduction more easily passes on the mutations that would give them a edge over rivals



[edit on 10-6-2005 by UK Wizard]

Parthenogenesis is a great plan for a species for the short term, but not so great for the long term.

I've played many artificial life games to see how this works. Species using parthenogenesis would easily be able to gain a short term advantage over all other organisms, but their adaptability is limited. Once other organisms have adapted, their population quickly decreases. Sometimes a parthenogenetic species will even destroy themselves due to limited genetic diversity.

Sexual reproduction may not be able to take advantage of a new advantageous trait as quickly as asexual reproduction, but there is a higher likely hood that the new trait (and the species) will stick around for a lot longer.

Hey that would be a natural example of the power of the female, and men would go crazy if women were able to do just that.

Who needs sex if you can reproduce withouth males.

I guess nature is proving that when it comes to female and male the male is just an option.

And that is one for the male ego.

Originally posted by marg6043
Hey that would be a natural example of the power of the female, and men would go crazy if women were able to do just that.

Who needs sex if you can reproduce withouth males.

I guess nature is proving that when it comes to female and male the male is just an option.

And that is one for the male ego.

nnnoooooooo!!!

nice thought for all u feminist`s out there but not good for us red blooded males

still how does this process work....where does the external input come from..i know about sea horse`s and guppy`s and the like but these are all aquatic(and a different evolution process..can change sex etc).never heard of it in land creatures b4..can some 1 please give me a link for something to explain this???thx

sry ppl got the link from wizard..thx dude..the process is the mating ritual which produces the hormone that is required for the chemical process of conception to start..thx for the info ppl

wizard u got my above vote m8..thx again


DOH..i only gone and done it again..sry dude cant vote for ya


[edit on 10-6-2005 by Heratix]

[edit on 10-6-2005 by Heratix]

I think the best (most understandable) source for this is goodole "Straight Dope." It seems that, among other species, turkeys sometimes reproduce parthenogenically:
www.straightdope.com...

www.biology-online.org...

And also, interestingly enough, parthenogenic reproduction DOES fail and does have mistakes:
oregonstate.edu...

...and viruses MIGHT be able to induce parthenogenic reproduction in turkeys:
www.genetics.org...



...who knew?

[edit on 10-6-2005 by Byrd]

Turkeys too!!!!

Well if this is happening in nature, then we as a human species are also part of the animal kingdom so I wonder if eventually this will start affecting the human species in the future.

After all we already had humans born with both genders even if one is not useful.

Byrd have you found anything in science were a human with both sexes is able to produce sperm and also ovulate.?

I was wondering.

Hey don't get me wrong people I am not trying to erradicate the human male speices at all.

Originally posted by marg6043
Turkeys too!!!!

Yeah, that surprised me, too. I knew it was possible for some of the lower lifeforms, but birds were a bit of a shock.

Well if this is happening in nature, then we as a huma/quoten species are also part of the animal kingdom so I wonder if eventually this will start affecting the human species in the future.

I think that's questionable at this stage, although science fiction writer Suzy Mckee Charnas speculated about it in her "Holdfast" series (the Free Fems reproduced parthenogenically):
www.sfwa.org...
www.ffbooks.co.uk...

Byrd have you found anything in science were a human with both sexes is able to produce sperm and also ovulate.?

I haven't read that much on human hermaphrodites. I know that it's possible for both lizards and fish to switch sexes in midstream (so to speak) and become fully functioning males after being functional females (and vice-versa.) However, I don't know about humans. I think that in most cases, hermaphrodites are altered to be either male or female early enough that they don't arrive at adulthood with the option of being both sexes at once.

I don't know about chimeras, however; people who are a genetic combination of themselves and a twin that was absorbed at an early (multicell, pre-fetus) stage.


Hey don't get me wrong people I am not trying to erradicate the human male speices at all.

Originally posted by Byrd
Personally, I don't think I'm ready to give up men in exchange for being able to run marathons.

To run marathons? Maybe not...

But to fight the evil [Zionists] that is the New World Order? Yes.

Interesting thread, glad I found it and made for an interesting read.

Edit: New England Journal of Medicine, vol 338, p 166 reported on a child with a penis, one testicle, and an ovary and fallopian tube instead of a second testicle. See here so it is possible, that it might be able to produce both - however, this was not published that long ago and the child isn't old enough for us to find out yet.

[edit on 28/12/2005 by Odium]

I don't think that Humans can change our sexual organs mid-life like some aquatic species, it has something to do with the stem-cells(or lack thereof in humans in that specific area) Our Livers(when we are still a featus) however are chock full of stem-like cells that if spread into the system could cause some weirdness to happen.(The only weirdness they've found with Fetal Liver cells is that it gives mice nearl full regeneration powers(only the brain cannot regenerate and this was tested in mice))

Also I heard about this a while ago, was this not a recent mutation(like within the last 1000 years? or maybe even sooner?)

[edit on 29-12-2005 by sardion2000]

Originally posted by marg6043
Turkeys too!!!!

Well if this is happening in nature, then we as a human species are also part of the animal kingdom so I wonder if eventually this will start affecting the human species in the future.

After all we already had humans born with both genders even if one is not useful.

Byrd have you found anything in science were a human with both sexes is able to produce sperm and also ovulate.?

I was wondering.

Hey don't get me wrong people I am not trying to erradicate the human male speices at all.

It is not a separate species, don't be silly. Genders are not special differentiations.

I'll give up sex when they pry my cold dead hand from around my.....

Ummmm...let me rephrase that.

I'm more happy then ever that i'm not a lizard. (alien or otherwise)

Love and light,

Wupy

Originally posted by Odium

Edit: New England Journal of Medicine, vol 338, p 166 reported on a child with a penis, one testicle, and an ovary and fallopian tube instead of a second testicle. See

I read the article very interesting is only 40 of these people around and they still can reproduce.

It doesn't said anything about reproduction by themselves.

But it also said that the offspring can have genetic disabilities.

Very interesting.

Great story and follow up links Byrd.

Oh yeah, I agree. Not even in exchange for being able to run marathons.