title: Sex and ostracods.
abstract: In the quest to ascertain the selective agents sustaining sex, much effort has been directed to studies of the origin and fate of asexuals. Ostracod crustaceans are of particular importance to this work, as they appear to show the highest incidence of transitions to parthenogenesis of any animal group. In addition, their excellent fossil record provides a historical perspective, suggesting that some parthenogenetic ostracods have outmanoeuvered the Red Queen for at least 70 million years. Genetic studies are now probing the basis of such persistence and are providing new direction for experimental work examining this frequent abandonment of sex.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Zoology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Havel
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Hebert