98
Parasitic ant species where every individual is a queen discovered in Japan
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2026
98 points (99.0% liked)
Biodiversity
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Yeah I read it, I'm saying that if an animal is only reproducing via cloning forever, it's an evolutionary dead end, because they will have completely lost the ability to adapt to environmental changes
Not necessarily: mutations will still happen. But there will not be any genetic crossing over that will contribute to greater variance.
How many animals can you name that reproduce only asexually? The rate of evolution in an asexually reproducing species will always be significantly slower than a species that reproduces sexually, and over time it will be out-competed.
Again: not necessarily. That there are still asexually-producing organisms suggests that it's not enough of a disadvantage for the environment they're in.
This form of reproduction can also be an advantage: the rate of reproduction tends to be faster and more offspring are produced. In the case of this organism, instead of one queen producing all the offspring, every ant is able to produce offspring.
tl;dr: it isn't the case that sexual reproduction is always favoured over asexual reproduction. Evolutionary pressure isn't fixed like that.