Dispatch

Sexual reproduction is so nearly ubiquitous among vertebrates and plants that we tend to forget that many eukaryotes appear to have dispensed with meiotic sex altogether [1]. These range from parthenogenetic lizards to a wide array of eukaryotic protists, many of which are important parasites like Giardia. It is important to know if these organisms are truly asexual, because the answer will help determine when and how meiotic sex first evolved