Abstract
Sexual reproduction has widespread and varied ramifications affecting many aspects of biology. Since the theory of natural selection was first proposed, naturalists have repeatedly examined the adaptive significance of sexual and asexual reproduction. Early valuable contributions were made by August Weismann (1887, 1889, 1892). He suggested that sex is a handicap because it results in a lower rate of reproduction and requires special morphological structures, but that it also facilitates evolution by providing the genetic variability that natural selection depends upon. The advantages arising from genetic variability were elaborated by Fisher (1930) and Muller (1932) and embodied in the concept of recombination systems which developed as part of the synthetic theory of evolution. According to theories of regulation of recombination systems, a wide array of structural and ecological features of organisms, including sexuality vs. asexuality, are adjusted together to produce a supposedly optimal supply of genetic recombinants (Darlington, 1939; Grant, 1975).
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Lloyd, D.G. (1980). Benefits and Handicaps of Sexual Reproduction. In: Hecht, M.K., Steere, W.C., Wallace, B. (eds) Evolutionary Biology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6962-6_2
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