Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evolutionary biology

Why reproduction often takes two

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

On the face of it, self-fertilization is the efficient way to breed: compared with outcrossing, there's usually much less fuss, for a start. So why isn't reproduction by selfing far more prevalent than it is?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1: Fit for evolutionary studies — the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

DENNIS KUNKEL MICROSCOPY, INC./VISUALS UNLIMITED/CORBIS

References

  1. Fisher, R. A. Ann. Eugen. 11, 53–63 (1941).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lively, C. M. & Lloyd, D. G. Am. Nat. 135, 489–500 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Goodwillie, C., Kalisz, S. & Eckert, C. G. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 36, 47–79 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jarne, P. & Auld, J. R. Evolution 60, 1816–1824 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Morran, L. T., Parmenter, M. D. & Phillips, P. C. Nature 462, 350–352 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lande, R. & Schemske, D. W. Evolution 39, 24–40 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Charlesworth, D., Morgan, M. T. & Charlesworth, B. Evolution 44, 1469–1489 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Haldane, J. B. S. The Causes of Evolution (Harper, 1932; reprinted with introduction and afterword by E. G. Leigh, Princeton Univ. Press, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Peck, J. Genetics 137, 597–606 (1994).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Colegrave, N. Nature 420, 664–666 (2002).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Goddard, M. R., Godfray, H. C. J. & Burt, A. Nature 434, 636–640 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Agrawal, A. F. Curr. Biol. 16, R696–R704 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aneil F. Agrawal is in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada. a.agrawal@utoronto.ca,

    Aneil F. Agrawal

Authors
  1. Aneil F. Agrawal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Agrawal, A. Why reproduction often takes two. Nature 462, 294–295 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/462294a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/462294a

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation