No sex please, we’re rotifers (Credit: C Wilson)
New research backs the idea that a group of celibate animals can survive without sex because they can dry up and lie dormant to evade disease. Published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the study looked at microscopic organisms called bdelloid rotifers, which reproduce by laying eggs that hatch into identical clones of themselves. Scientists have long been puzzled by how these creatures have survived for over 40 million years despite never having sex. In other animals, sexual reproduction is a key part of natural selection, which allows them to evolve defences against changing environmental conditions, especially new diseases. The new study shows that bdelloid rotifers are able to avoid disease by lying dormant, drying up and drifting around on the wind. Researchers from Imperial College London studied bdelloid rotifers living in patches of moss on tree trunks. They saw that many of the animals were suffering from fungal infections, which spread rapidly after a damp Summer.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
