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Asexual lizards, virgin births and clones – the all-female species of the animal kingdom

The Conversation · · 961 words · By Louise Gentle
Evolutionary Biology Genetic Diversity Parthenogenesis

The article discusses the biological mechanisms of asexual reproduction in vertebrates, focusing on the Amazon molly and its use of gene conversion to maintain genetic viability. It also explores other examples of parthenogenesis in species such as whiptail lizards, blue-spotted salamanders, and Brahminy blind snakes.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/asexual-lizards-virgin-births-and-clones-the-all-fem…

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

21 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 11
check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
verified Verified 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
verified
“the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), a fish that inhabits rivers, lakes and swamps in Mexico and Texas, exists over much of its range in populations that are 100% female.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly confirms that the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is native to northeastern Mexico and southern Texas and that essentially all individuals are females.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is a freshwater fish native to the warm waters of northeastern Mexico and the southern parts of the U.S. state of Texas. It reproduces through gynogenesis, and esse…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_molly
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, (April 25, 1846 – February 2, 1848) was an invasion of Mexico by…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican–American_War
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The red-crowned amazon (Amazona viridigenalis), also known as the red-crowned parrot, green-cheeked amazon or Mexican red-headed parrot, is an endangered amazon parrot native to northeastern Mexico an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-crowned_amazon
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“In 1932, the Amazon molly became the first known vertebrate to reproduce by cloning itself, producing all-female populations.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources (including a Wikipedia search result and two science-related articles from Futurity and Nature Ecology & Evolution) confirm that the Amazon molly was identified in 1932 as the first known asexual vertebrate.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on Novem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_MGM_Studios
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Amazon River (UK: , US: ; Portuguese: rio Amazonas, Spanish: río Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the second-longest or longest river …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is a freshwater fish native to the warm waters of northeastern Mexico and the southern parts of the U.S. state of Texas. It reproduces through gynogenesis, and esse…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_molly
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“The proportion of females in the human population is roughly 50%.”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources discuss the human sex ratio; while they note slight variations, the general consensus across demographic data is that the global ratio is approximately 50%.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and minor islands. Bot…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“A few countries such as Maldives (38% female) and Moldova (54% female) diverge from this”
CORROBORATED
TheGlobalEconomy.com reports the Maldives female population at 38.08% (2024), and another web source lists Moldova at 54.0%.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kinley is a brand of still or carbonated water owned by The Coca-Cola Company and sold in many large European and Asian countries. Its carbonated forms are used for mixers, and also available in a var…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinley_(brand)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean, near the southeastern boundary …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Miss Universe 2024 was the 73rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico, on 16 November 2024. Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua crowned Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark as h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Universe_2024
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Kentish plover bird populations, where males care for offspring, comprise only 14% female”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Search results for Kentish plovers discuss population decline and nesting habits, but none of the provided evidence mentions the specific female population percentage (14%) or male care for offspring.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and primate of the Church of England. They are the diocesan bishop of the diocese of Canterbury and the metropolitan of the province of Canterbury. Th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbishop_of_Canterbury
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kentish may be used as a name: Kentish Council is a local government area in Tasmania, Australia Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England English ship Kentish Kentish as a surname: John…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentish
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. The area was initially a small settlement on the Rive…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentish_Town
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“sea turtle populations, where sex is determined by temperature often exceed 75% female.”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources confirm that sea turtle sex is determined by temperature (TSD) and that this can lead to female-biased ratios, although the specific '75%' figure is not explicitly cited in the snippets, the mechanism is confirmed.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sea turtle sex depends on sand temperature while the egg is incubating. Larger hatchlings have a higher probability of survival than smaller individuals, which can be explained by the fact that larger…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_turtle
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web search NEUTRAL — This temperature varies across sea turtle species, and also across different nesting grounds. Why it Matters. A slightly female-biased sex ratio may actually be preferred since one male can mate with …
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/blog/tell-me…
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web search NEUTRAL — However, the sex of most turtles, alligators, and crocodiles is determined after fertilization. The temperature of the developing eggs is what decides whether the offspring will be male or female. Thi…
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/temperature-dependent.ht…
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“the Amazon molly, – a hybrid that arose through sexual reproduction between a female Atlantic molly (P. mexicana) and a male sailfin molly (P. latipinna) – has survived for over 100,000 years.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent sources (Wikipedia, IGB, and a science article) confirm the Amazon molly is a hybrid of P. mexicana and P. latipinna and has existed for approximately 100,000 years.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Amazon molly is a hybrid species, and its parent species are the sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna) and the Atlantic molly...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_molly
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web search NEUTRAL — The species has existed for about 100,000 years.It is an all-female species that reproduces gynogenetically. Individuals are able to recognise their sisters (own clone line). The species has existed f…
https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/amazon-molly
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web search NEUTRAL — Roughly 100,000 years ago, a female Poecilia mexicana crossed paths with a male Poecilia latipinna. In the world of biology, such hybridizations usually lead to a dead end—think of the mule or the lig…
https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/this-all-female-fish-specie…
info
“Muller’s ratchet, predicts that clones should go extinct within 10,000 years.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results for 'Muller' returned a football player, a car dealer, and a company, but no information regarding the biological theory of 'Muller's ratchet'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In the 2019–20, he broke the Bundesliga record for assists in a season with 21 (a joint record in the top five leagues alongside Lionel Messi in La Liga) and scored 14 goals as Bayern won a second tre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Müller
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2022 · Muller Honda always delivers high quality service. They keep you informed and get any repairs done in a timely manner.
https://www.muller-honda.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Muller Company has extensive experience with all phases of development and project management, including selective land acquisition, entitlements, ground-up development and tenant improvements. Th…
https://www.themullercompany.com/
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“The Amazon molly reproduces via a process called parthenogenesis, also known as “virgin birth”, where young are produced from an unfertilised gamete.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results for this specific claim.
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“the marbled crayfish, reproduce sexually in their native range but rapidly establish themselves in new habitats asexually, often from a single female.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results for this specific claim.
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“The Amazon molly has a type of parthenogenesis known as gynogenesis where sperm is required to stimulate development of the unfertilised egg.”
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“Parthenogenesis is common in invertebrate animals, including ants, bees and wasps.”
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“it has been found in other fish, amphibians, reptiles including the Komodo dragon, birds such as Californian condors and sharks for example hammerheads.”
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“the whiptail lizards, where almost a third of species are comprised solely of females.”
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“The New Mexico whiptail lizard... do not need sperm from a male to stimulate egg development.”
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“Some blue-spotted salamanders have reproduced asexually for several million years.”
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“they [blue-spotted salamanders] are kleptogenic. This means that they replace a portion of the mother’s DNA with a portion of DNA from the male’s sperm”
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“the Brahminy blind snake, also known as the flowerpot snake... is the only other known vertebrate that breeds exclusively via parthenogenesis.”
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“The snakes have three copies of each chromosome, rather than the usual two”
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“Increased numbers of chromosomes have been found in many species, including salmon with four copies, and sturgeon fish with eight copies.”
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“female snakes have two clitorises.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.