scientificpokedex:Requested by @mobiustwixt and anonymouslyThere’s quite a few pokémon that are all
scientificpokedex:Requested by @mobiustwixt and anonymouslyThere’s quite a few pokémon that are all female, and Salazzle joins their ranks in gen 7. Only female Salandit are capable of evolving. It may sound strange, but there are quite a few organisms in our world that are like Salazzle, where only the females ever reach full maturity. Many of these species are parthenogenetic, meaning they don’t even need males to reproduce. They can still have sex, but even if they don’t, they can lay an egg that’s never been fertilized and the egg will still hatch. Whiptail Lizards, Komodo Dragons, Mole salamanders and some frogs are able to do this.In fact, about one third of all whiptail species are entirely female: the male has gone extinct altogether. But, since there are still plenty of male Salandit around, Salazzle isn’t quite like these lizards. Most animals (humans included) are diploids, meaning we carry two sets of chromosomes. Salamanders that are parthenogenetic often have three, four or five sets of chromosomes: this helps ensure that even though an egg might never be fertilized, it won’t be a perfect clone of its mother when it hatches. Genetic diversity is important for a species survivals: a group of identical clones would not survive for long.So how can an egg hatch if it’s never been fertilized? In human reproduction, the child inherits half of their chromosomes from each parent. For example, for the chromosomes that determine sex, females have XX and males have XY. A child will inevitably get one from each parent, an X from the mother and either an X or Y from the father. In a parthenogenetic example, the chromosomes that determine sex for a Komodo Dragon are called W and Z, not X and Y. It’s also a bit backwards from human reproduction: a male komodo dragon has ZZ, and a female has WZ. Each Komodo dragon egg laid by a female has either a W or a Z. In parthenogenesis, the chromosomes in the egg duplicate themselves, becoming either WW or ZZ. Just like YY is not an viable combination in humans, WW is a not a viable combination and will never hatch. ZZ, on the other hand, makes a male komodo dragon, so every unfertilized egg that hatches will be a male. Eggs that have been fertilized by a male can hatch either as male or female.This explains why there’s so many more male Salandit than females! If a Salazzle’s egg is never fertilized, it will hatch into a male Salandit. If the egg is fertilized, it will be either a male or female Salandit. Salazzle is a parthenogenetic organism: it can reproduce without having sex, and unfertilized eggs will always hatch into male Salandit. -- source link
#pokemon#salandit#salazzle