10. Parthenogenetic lizard
Perhaps it is because of the magic of procreation that the story of "virgin birth" emerges endlessly and spreads to this day. One of the most famous is the birth of Jesus. It is said that his mother, the Virgin Mary, was a virgin when she was pregnant.
Although virginity is technically possible, it's hard to believe it. In nature, however, the parthenogenesis (scientific name for virgin birth) of organisms is very common. Hammerhead sharks, Komodo dragons, moles salamanders and other reptiles, fish and insects can reproduce directly without mating.
All this starts with 'germ cells'. This kind of cell can be divided into two parts and then into four parts. We call these four germ cells' gametes', three of which will be discarded, and the remaining one will contain half the chromosomes needed to create new life. In sexual reproduction, a female gamete combines with a male gamete to form a complete set of chromosomes.
But in parthenogenesis, a female gamete, or an egg, contains the whole set of chromosomes needed by the organism, and can stimulate its own growth, and eventually become a new individual.
It's unbelievable that many insects are able to swim between parthenogenesis and sexual reproduction. The choice of reproduction depends on the environment at that time (for example, whether to find heterosexual mating). In addition, some organisms follow the so-called 'periodic parthenogenesis', for example, Daphnia alternates parthenogenesis and sexual reproduction.
Up to now, no case of parthenogenesis has been found in nature. However, through temperature control and chemical control, artificial induced Parthenogenesis of rabbits and other small animals has been successfully achieved. But human beings have no reason for this.
9. Male female transformation of NEMO
Don't confuse androgyny with parthenogenesis! These are two completely different concepts. Parthenogenesis means that the female gamete can complete all the reproductive work alone, while the secret of Androgyny lies in that the organism has both male and female reproductive organs, which can produce both female and male gametes.
Androgyny is common in some species, such as flowers, snails and fish. Some of them are born male, but they can become female in the future; others are born female, but they can become male the day after tomorrow. Some species are bisexual all their lives.
Remember Finding Nemo ）Nemo and his father? It's still necessary to make a sequel to this movie. You don't know how interesting the reproduction of the clownfish is! Generally speaking, the clownfish like to shuttle between sea anemones in groups. Except for the leading pair of adult male and female clownfish who are responsible for childbearing, the rest are sterile young males.
But for example, if the leader's female dies, the leader's male will change and become the leader's female. At the same time, the strongest one of these young males will grow up and mature rapidly, become the leader's male and bear the responsibility of bearing children. Pixar! Let's go! We can't wait to see the sequel. Rinimo's father suddenly becomes a mother. That must be a big selling point!
8. Male frog stealing eggs
Stealing eggs is a reproductive strategy, but at first it was thought that frogs were wearing sports goggles, drinking rum and then turning into thieves with bayonets to steal eggs.
This is not the case. It does have to do with frogs, but they are naked frogs that live in the Pyrenees rather than the Barbados. The fact that they are 'naked' is crucial - because on the high Pyrenees, the long night is so cold, these frogs, who would like to 'make people' under the cover of night, have to arrange it in a sunny afternoon.
Thanks to the unique geographical conditions here, researchers can closely observe the fertilization process of the frogs, and find that this is not the same as their usual way of IVF.
In vitro fertilization is the preferred mode of reproduction for fish and amphibians. The female lays a 'nest' of eggs in the water, and the male then lays the sperm on the eggs. Frogs want to make sure the process is not delayed, so when the female is ready to lay eggs, the male will climb onto her back and give her a big bear hug. The male frog fertilizes the female frog immediately after laying eggs. However, such fertilization rate may only be about 1%.
In the pond on the high Pyrenees, the romance of frogs is different. The number of male frogs here is far more than that of female frogs, so they often can't find a mate, which forces the pirate gang of male frogs to look for new eggs everywhere. Once they find the egg pile, they try their best to fertilize the unfertilized eggs. Researchers have found that there are four fathers in a pile of fertilized eggs!
7. Bee orchids that 'seduce' bees
Most flowers and pollinators who help them to reproduce maintain a mutual relationship. For example, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other animals will feed flowers while sucking sweet nectar in return. After that, the pollinated flowers will gradually produce seeds, which will eventually grow into new plants.
Although this way of reproduction is not boring, but some varieties of orchids think it is too old-fashioned. Pollinators kept busy among nearby flowers, but orchids worried about inbreeding. Although we know they won't really worry about it, biological evolution has spawned more novel (actually super weird) ways of self reproduction to meet the needs of these creatures.
In the mountains along the Mediterranean coast, there is a plant called the orchid, and people prefer to call it the honeybee. Under the effect of the visual trap, the flower really looks like a female bee with her head buried in a blue petal and only her back outside. In addition, the bee orchid can also release the same smell as the female bee, and even has fluff, making it look fluffy, which further deepens the sensory illusion. The deception was so perfect that even its apparent defects turned into advantages.
Attracted by the magic of bee orchid, the drones rush to mate with the flowers, and the pollen with special viscosity in advance will stick to the back of the drone. But according to the original plan, deception can only last so long. Xiongfeng in order to meet the sexual desire of the bee orchid after the brutal destruction, only to realize that he was cheated, so with loss, hobbled away. The drones fly a long distance to 'heal' until they fall into the trap the next time. For the original bee orchid, if all goes well, the pollen carried by the drone can unconsciously fall on another flower.
As for the bee orchid, the loss of the male peak is in the middle of the heart, because the farther the male flies in the calm process, the more able it is to prevent the mating of the bee orchid's close relatives. Of course, think of the various orchids on the windowsill. There are so many kinds of orchids all over the world. Bees are not the only animals attracted by their magic.
6. Tetrahymena of seven genders
Next time you're at the edge of the lake, try to forget the fact that n hairy, single celled microbes are doing some very strange breeding around you. In fact, Tetrahymena is a very pure organism in most cases. They use the chaste parthenogenesis to produce their own offspring in the fresh water where they live.
However, parthenogenesis can not produce genetic variation, and genetic variation helps organisms adapt to environmental changes. Therefore, when the surrounding environment becomes unsuitable for survival, Tetrahymena will activate the sexual desire that has been dormant to help itself survive. At that time, things became very interesting.
If you think it's very complicated to study gender politics, think about it. This tiny microbe has at least seven genders! Imaginative scientists call these seven genders type 1 to type 7. Tetrahymena of both genders type 1 cannot mate, but don't worry, it can mate with any of the other six.
The newly formed Tetrahymena insects carry all the genes of their parents, so they can also be transformed into any of the seven genders. Then, after random selection, their DNA sets will be pruned to retain only one sex. It's a very complicated thing for very small microorganisms.
5. Male born hippocampus
Many people have long forgotten the plot of Schwarzenegger's and DeVito's film 'Junior'. For the purpose of science popularization, this article is not afraid to remind you that this movie is about the pregnancy of the future governor of California. Male pregnancy? It's fun. The next content is more interesting.
Male pregnancy is obviously a brain opening idea, but if you show this comedy to seahorse, they shrug at most pointlessly. It's not that the movie has a 32% positive rating on rotten tomato, but that male pregnancies in the hippocampus are no surprise.
When the seahorses want to reproduce in spring, the male and female seahorses will dance a delicate, long and beautiful courtship dance together. Their tails are twined together and they swim in pairs. After their dance steps are fully synchronized, the female seahorse will slide two thousand egg cells into the male seahorse's special pouch for pregnancy.
The male seahorse fertilizes the eggs and keeps them in the pouch that hatches the young seahorse. He will take good care of these fertilized eggs and try his best to meet their needs at different stages of growth. When the young seahorses are ready to face the world alone, the male seahorses will contract the muscles of the pouch and 'produce' them.
At the same time, the female hippocampus has been preparing for the next ovulation. It's Tango time again! The male seahorse can have a baby in the morning and get pregnant again in the evening.
4. The barnacle of the dove's nest
Now let's look at the terrible way parasites reproduce. When it comes to parasites, they tend to reproduce in weird, creepy and impressive ways. It's really not easy to pick out more distinctive ones. However, a humble crustacean, Rhizocephala, deserves our attention for its unscrupulous reproduction.
The root head crustacean, rhizo, is different from the common barnacle in appearance. Their larvae are floating on the sea, waiting for the chance to meet the passing crabs. The sea is vast and opportunities are slim, but there are so many barnacles that some larvae can find their targets.
Once the barnacle finds the crabs, it will immediately adhere to the crabs, extend its tentacles like syringes, and inject its cells into the crabs. Barnacle cells will gather in the sinuses of crabs, then start to take root and grow, spread everywhere, and finally reach out in the ovaries of female crabs and lay eggs in their small abdomen.
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