The real reason why we have sex

Sex is the reason for a peacock’s elaborate tail, a stag’s giant antlers, or even a human man’s attempt at dancing — but “if a female of any of these species produced offspring on her own, without sex, her offspring should come to dominate” Dr. Stuart Auld told stir.ac.uk. “While the other females watch the redundant males fighting and dancing.”

But Auld and his research team at the University of Stirling in Scotland found that sexual reproduction is healthier for offspring — an observation made studying the water flea, which can reproduce both ways.

“By comparing clonal and sexual daughters from the same mothers [of water fleas], we found sexually produced offspring get less sick,” Auld said.