# What is the largest asexual animal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415 "2010-12-16T20:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/1 "2010-12-16T20:23:55Z")
I always thought that only single celled organisms reproduced asexually but I recently heard that some stick insects reproduce asexually. Is this true? If it is how do they do it? What is the largest animal that reproduces asexually? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/2 "2010-12-16T20:26:19Z")
Start reading about Parthenogenesis… Lizards do it. > **[Parthenogenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis)** > > Parthenogenesis (/ˌpɑːrθɪnoʊˈdʒɛnɪsɪs, -θɪnə-/; from the Greek παρθένος, parthénos, 'virgin' + γένεσις, génesis, 'creation') is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur in a gamete (egg or sperm) without combining with another gamete (e.g., egg and sperm fusing). In animals, parthenogenesis means development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell. In plants, parthenogenesis is a component process of apomixis. In algae, parthenogenesis Parthenog... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/3 "2010-12-16T21:04:49Z")
I am. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/4 "2010-12-16T21:23:21Z")
[Blacktip shark females](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacktip_shark) can reproduce asexually in a low-male environment. They usually get to about 4 or 5 feet long. EDIT: Looks like [Komodo dragons can do it, too](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_Dragon#Parthenogenesis) – they average around 7-9 feet in length. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/5 "2010-12-16T21:49:31Z")
My sister. She’s 6’5’’. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/6 "2010-12-16T22:06:26Z")
How big do sponges get? They appear to have multiple options for reproduction, including asexual ones. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/7 "2010-12-17T03:49:51Z")
Turkeys can do parthenogenesis as well. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/8 "2010-12-17T04:26:16Z")
The [Lion’s Mane Jellyfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion's_mane_jellyfish), which can have a bell over 7 feet in diameter and tentacles 120 feet long, has a life cycle that includes sexual and asexual stages. The jellyfish itself reproduces sexually, but is produced asexually by the polyp stage. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/9 "2010-12-17T04:58:14Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Turkeys can do parthenogenesis as well. And when they do, their offspring are all male. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/10 "2010-12-17T05:01:10Z")
There’s a guy in another thread complaining about being a “mental boyfriend” as compared to some girl’s “physical boyfriend”. I don’t know how large he is, but he is apparently pretty far up the food chain compared to the others listed in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Hairy\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hairy\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/11 "2010-12-17T18:58:05Z")
Dinosaurs, if you happen to fill in the gaps in their DNA by splicing tree frog genes in when you resurrect them to show in your island amusement park. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/12 "2010-12-17T19:13:13Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > My sister. > > She’s 6’5’'. Your sister has sex, and she ENJOYS it ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-asexual-animal/564415/13 "2010-12-17T19:26:02Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Lizards do it. > [@Smeghead](#): > > Turkeys can do parthenogenesis as well. However, I rather doubt educated fleas do it. (BTW, isn’t this supposed to be about animals that _don’t_ do it?)