Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is the development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg. It occurs naturally in some animals and plants and can also be induced experimentally.

Apomixis: Asexual seed formation in plants that produces offspring without meiosis or fertilization. Unlike animal parthenogenesis, this plant process can produce seeds without an egg undergoing ordinary fertilization.
Komodo dragon: A large monitor lizard native to several Indonesian islands. Captive females have produced viable offspring without mating through parthenogenesis.
Oogenesis: The process by which female germ cells develop into mature egg cells. Parthenogenesis begins with an egg produced through this reproductive pathway.
Sexual reproduction: Reproduction involving the fusion of gametes, usually from two parents. It contrasts with development from an egg that receives no paternal genome.
Sexual conflict: An evolutionary conflict in which traits increasing reproductive success in one sex reduce it in the other. Parthenogenetic lineages can escape conflicts associated with mating and male reproduction.
Automixis: A form of parthenogenesis in which products of meiosis fuse or duplicate to restore chromosome number. It explains how some unfertilized eggs become diploid while retaining genetic variation.
California condor: A critically endangered North American vulture and the largest bird native to the continent. Genetic testing identified males produced parthenogenetically by females housed without males.
Meiosis: A cell-division process that halves chromosome number and generates reproductive cells. Meiosis shapes the chromosome complement inherited by many parthenogenetic offspring.
Budding: Asexual reproduction in which a new organism grows from an outgrowth of its parent. Unlike parthenogenesis, budding does not begin with an unfertilized egg.
Inbreeding depression: Reduced fitness caused by mating between relatives or increased homozygosity. Some parthenogenetic mechanisms raise homozygosity and expose harmful recessive alleles.

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