title: A little bit is better than nothing: the incomplete parthenogenesis of salamanders, frogs and fish.
abstract: A re-examination of the mitochondrial genomes of unisexual salamander lineages, published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, shows them to be the oldest unisexual vertebrates known, having been around for 5 million years. This presents a challenge to the prediction that lack of genetic recombination is a fast track to extinction. See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/238.
authors.affiliation: Animal Evolutionary Ecology and Biodiversity, University of Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lampert
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schartl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D010312:Parthenogenesis; D011898:Ranidae / Q000502:physiology*; D014562:Caudata / Q000502:physiology*