Re:California Condors Are Capable of Asexual Reproduction
by MBCook on Thursday October 28, 2021 @10:33PM
(#29034551)
The article implied that we know the parents and genes of every California Condor due to the close track science has been keeping on the species.
So I do t think it’s fair to say that an “unknown number” of the birds lacked a male parent. We appear to know the number. It was 2.
Further the birds are not clones. Those would be healthy animals. Parthonotes have two copies of one set of chromosomes. So they’re a half of a clone. Much riskier genetics which is why they almost never survive and are so often sickly.
So I don’t think there is any way a female could establish a new population. And that population (in this species) would be 100% male so it couldn’t reproduce again through parthenogenesis.
It doesn’t sound like it would be a viable way of bringing species back from extinction or continuing our species.
So I do t think it’s fair to say that an “unknown number” of the birds lacked a male parent. We appear to know the number. It was 2.
Further the birds are not clones. Those would be healthy animals. Parthonotes have two copies of one set of chromosomes. So they’re a half of a clone. Much riskier genetics which is why they almost never survive and are so often sickly.
So I don’t think there is any way a female could establish a new population. And that population (in this species) would be 100% male so it couldn’t reproduce again through parthenogenesis.
It doesn’t sound like it would be a viable way of bringing species back from extinction or continuing our species.