Question

The authors describe an important experiment in which scientists showed strong support for the hypothesis that bdelloid rotifers have reproduced asexually for millions of years. Briefly describe the results from their experiment that supported this conclusion

Answer 1

Bdelloid rotifers are small metazoans, a class of very small invertebrates that can visible through a microscope only. They reproduce asexually and found in temporary or permanent freshwater.

Bdelloid rotifers population shows only females in this population and Males not found yet, which suggests that females asexually produce identical progeny. The process called parthenogenesis. The organisms that sexually produced their DNA has two copies of the genome that may or may not be identical but in case of asexual reproduction, there are always identical copies produce.