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> Asexual species have been around for "quite some time" by comparison to, say, all of recorded history. They tend to be very recent on a geological timescale.
by jobigoud 9y ago
> Asexual species have been around for "quite some time" by comparison to, say, all of recorded history. They tend to be very recent on a geological timescale.
Asexual reproduction was there first and predates sexual reproduction by several billion years. Some species then evolved back asexual reproduction, like this marbled crayfish.
- masklinn 9y agoAsexual reproduction yes, but GP's point is that asexual species seem much younger, seem to generally speaking not "last" on long timescales. Which would make sense, if an individual has great fitness they can "boom" extremely rapidly, but then any change in condition or emergence of specialised predator or disease will take down the entire population just as quickly because it has very low variability and flexibility.
- jobigoud 9y agoAh, thanks for the clarification. But then all species, asexual or not, are young with regards to geological times. I think the order of magnitude for longest species lifespan is about 10 million years. Is there really a correlation between species lifespan and method of reproduction?
- Scarblac 9y agoThis crayfish evolved 25 years ago. The article cites another study on asexual flea species, where the mutation was 1250 years old. That's two examples and both very far away from 10 million years.