Stick insects that have lived a million years without sex

A Timema walking stick.

Stick insects that have lived a million years without sex

 

Stick insects not so excited about sex, apparently

A species of stick insect has been living for a million years without having sex, according to a new study.

The stick insect reproduces without the need for a male – and studies suggest they have been doing so for hundreds of thousands of years.
The findings also reveal that life without sexual intercourse can continue.
The species – Timema stick insects, which live in shrubland in the west coast of the US – are already known to produce clones of themselves through asexual ‘virgin births’.
Five insects had ‘ancient’ lineage, dating back more than 500,000 years, and two were even older.
Researcher Dr Tanja Schwander said ‘all the evidence’ points to the species having survived for more than a million years without sex.
‘Why Timema asexuals have been able to persist for so long, despite all the predicted negative consequences of asexuality, is the focus of ongoing studies.’
The findings of the Canadian study, published in Current Biology, could overturn theories that asexuality is an evolutionary ‘dead end’.
Asexuality has benefits, including rapid population growth. However, the cloning of young creatures means that species are less able to adapt to changing environments through ‘shuffling’ genes.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/869808-stick-insects-that-have-lived-a-million-years-without-sex#ixzz1fQoHcgE6