Researchers from the University of Melbourne have discovered that current understandings of evolution may not be correct after a study on an ancient Australian grasshopper species revealed new insights into the animal kingdom.
The researchers found that W. virgo, which employs parthenogenetic reproduction—a form of reproduction by females of a species that can develop eggs into embryos without fertilisation— was just as successful as its sexually reproducing relatives.
Lead author of the research paper, Prof. Michael Kearney said in a Melbourne university news release that the study’s findings are important because they challenge the current understanding of evolutionary theory. Evolutionary theory, as it is today, suggests that sexual reproduction has advantages over parthenogenesis….