Dossier
Ediacaran period
Coverage of Ediacaran period in the Nexus archive.
- Lack of sex may have slowed evolution for millions of years
A study suggests that early animals' reliance on asexual reproduction slowed evolutionary diversification for millions of years until environmental pressures prompted a shift to sexual reproduction, triggering rapid species expansion. Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed Ediacaran period fossils, finding that asexual cloning reduced competition, while stressful conditions like storms and tides later drove increased dispersal and diversity.