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Message: <blockquote data-quote="imhotep" data-source="post: 26611535" data-attributes="member: 562115">Don't think it's exactly that but a small subset of animals can have offspring without mating. This is what's named parthenogenesis, and honey bees to rattlesnakes to have so-called “virgin births.”The word "Parthenogenesis" itself comes from two Greek roots that literally translate to “virgin creation.”Usually sexual reproduction needs an egg and a sperm, but in Parthenogenesis, the body somehow fills in the genes that's injected by the sperm.For millions of years animals have reproduced via parthenogenesis, which first emerged in some of the smallest, simplest organisms. For more advanced animals like vertebrates, scientists think that the ability to reproduce asexually came about as a last-ditch effort for species facing adverse conditions. That may explain why parthenogenesis is possible in so many desert and island species.Most animals that procreate through parthenogenesis are small invertebrates such as bees, wasps, ants, and aphids, which can alternate between sexual and asexual reproduction.</blockquote>

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