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Does obligate parthenogenesis evolve via facultative parthenogenesis?
In our new preprint (led by ChloĆ© Larose and Guillaume Lavanchy) we describe facultative parthenogenesis in several populations of Timema douglasi – a species previously thought to be obligately parthenogenetic. Parthenogenetic offspring seem to be produced in a similar way as in obligate parthenogenetic populations (via automixis), suggesting that obligate parthenogenesis (in Timema at least) may evolve via a facultative parthenogenetic stage.