Normally, vertebrates reproduce the newfangled way: sexually. They combine their genetic material with that of another individual to create a new individual with DNA from both parents.
However, in certain conditions (primarily in captivity), some female vertebrates have been known to reproduce asexually, without any males being involved. A group of researchers tracking the smalltooth sawfish in Florida have made the surprising discovery of seven individual sawfish, all with DNA that suggests they each have only one parent—their mother. The discovery, published yesterday in the journal Current Biology, is the first to find wild vertebrates produced by a single parent.
This kind of asexual reproduction, called facultative parthenogenesis (FP), occurs when a female’s egg retains a set of chromosomes that is normally lost, allowing it to develop with the appropriate number. The resulting offspring are called parthenogens, and it’s not clear how likely they are to survive.
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