Let me begin by noting that nearly every article in Evolution has something to do with sex. So it's likely that as I post them throughout the semester, reproduction will be a common theme.
An article from the December issue focused on an interesting subtopic -- haplodiploidy and the evolution of virgin reproduction... aka WHO RUN THE WORLD?!
Haplodiploidy is the condition in which male offspring are produced from unfertilized female eggs, while fertilized eggs produce females; the result being males have half the number of chromosomes that females have. The most familiar haplodiploid organism is the honey bee. Authors of this paper point out that while virgin reproduction is often considered a "failure to mate", it could actually be an adaptive reproductive strategy resulting in increased altruism and eusociality. Virgin reproduction usually occurs when mating would otherwise be costly or stressful, and ultimately leads to increased female helping due to elevated in-nest relatedness.
It seems that for organisms using this strategy, the future is indeed female.
Full paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.13387/full
-Courtney
1st post from Evolution.
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