POLYEMBRYONY AND SEX1

Polyembryony in Armadillos

O travelers passing through the southern US. may be struck by the unusual appearance of the ninebanded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus). This animal, which is about threequarters of a meter long, canbe identified by the leathery plates of armor that cover it nearly from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. It also has a seriesof transverse plates that wrap around its midsection, giving i...

Polyembryony in Hierochloe Odorata (l.) Beauv

The evolution of polyembryony in parasitoid wasps.

Polyembryony has evolved independently in four families of parasitoid wasps. We review three main hypotheses for the selective forces favouring this developmental mode in parasitoids: polyembryony (i) reduces the costs of egg limitation; (ii) reduces the genetic conflict among offspring; and (iii) allows offspring to adjust their numbers to the quality of the host. Using comparative data and ve...

The Roles of Polyembryony and Embryo Viability in the Genetic System of Conifers.

Phylogenetically Widespread Polyembryony in Cyclostome Bryozoans and the Protracted Asynchronous Release of Clonal Brood-Mates

Polyembryony-the production of multiple cloned embryos from a single fertilised egg-is a seemingly paradoxical combination of reproductive modes that nevertheless persists in diverse taxa. We document features of polyembryony in the Cyclostomata (Bryozoa)-an ancient order of modular colonial marine invertebrates-that suggest a substantial reduction in the paradoxical nature of this enigmatic re...