Meaning of xenoparity | Babel Free

Definitions

The condition of being xenoparous.

uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“We suggest defining such females as xenoparous, meaning they need to produce individuals of another species as part of their life cycle. This shows the evolution of xenoparity (xeno-, meaning ‘foreign, strange, different’, and -parity, meaning ‘produce, bring forth, give birth’), which is the need to propagate another species’ genome by means of its own eggs. Transition towards xenoparity seems to result from sexual evolution along a parasitism–mutualism continuum.”

“They say, "Transition towards xenoparity seems to result from sexual evolution along a parasitism–mutualism continuum. Similar to several other harvester ant species, M. ibericus first transitioned into obligate sperm parasitism, a situation in which they lost the ability to produce workers by themselves due to epistatic incompatibilities or selfish caste-biasing genotypes."”

““Beyond ants, this shows for the first time the evolution of xenoparity, which is the need to propagate another species’ genome by means of its own eggs,” Romiguier said.”

“Iberian harvester ant queens have been observed tracking down males of a different species, a phenomenon known as sperm parasitism. However, this was time-consuming, so Iberian harvester ants took a different approach. [...] Xeno means “alien”, while parous means “produce”. This is the first instance of xenoparity, which is the ability to pass on another species’ genome through its own eggs.”

CEFR level