dapperpets:

I’m so fascinated by the unisex Ambystoma and y’all should be too!!

The Unisexual Ambystoma is an all female group of salamanders native to the Great Lakes and the North Eastern United States.  They are most commonly a triploid species (but they can have multiple variations of polyploidy).  But what is SO COOL about them is they steal genomes from males of 5 other species (A. laterale, A. barbouri, A. tigrinum, A. texanum, A. jeffersonianum)!!

The unisexuals pick up and use genomes of sexual species every time they breed, but those genomes do not pass onto the next generation.  The genes they “steal” are adapted to the conditions of the local sexual males.  They’re like the ninjas of the world of herpetology!!

Imagine that!  A lineage made up of only women that, generation after generation, collect genetic material from males of other species that they can distribute to their offspring in pretty much any configuration.  Science still doesn’t know how the mother “chooses” the genes she gives to her daughter, and that is FASCINATING!

And this has been going on for millions of years! It is hypothesized that the Unisexual Ambystoma comes from a cross between A. laterale and A. barbouri.

But those two no longer have the same geographical range.  This means that the production of new Unisexual Ambystoma populations is not ongoing.  This group of female salamanders have been surviving solely by stealing genes from other species!! That’s so freaking cool!!!!!!