What selection pressures would favor isogametous reproduction requiring more than two parents?
+0
−0
A hypothetical organism is tetraploid and isogametous. To reproduce, four haploid gametes must meet and fuse into a tetraploid zygote. Any four individuals are sexually compatible, barring self-incompatibility or mating types.
What selection pressures would favor this method of reproduction over the fusion of a pair of ovum and sperm?
EDIT: near as I can tell, this would be a defense against recessive traits, frequent population bottlenecks and frequent mutations. The downside would be a slower overall rate of evolution, I think.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/71991. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads