Sex on the Rock

Hi People,
you probably thought that it takes man and woman to make a baby. But on top of Ayers Rock / Uluru - it’s different. Up there, they have a menu to choose from how to do it.
There are hollows on that rock, which become temporary puddles after rain. The climate is arid, and it might not rain for years. But after it has, these puddles teem with females. Shield Shrimps they are and look the same today as they did 400 million years ago.
Their eggs need rain to hatch, and they hatch mainly females. And soon they make babies, via parthenogenesis, or ‘virgin birth’. Each baby an exact copy of the female, no guys needed to add their bits. It lacks romance but saves time in the race against the sun. A new generation must mature to egglaying stage before the water has evaporated.
Some males are also around, like an afterthought. Useless and quite ignored.
But once the water shrinks and the end is nigh, the females remember those males. It’s an SOS call, and now the males do what males do. And only THESE eggs can survive almost forever. An insurance that, even after 10 or 15 years of droughts, the species will survive.
You see … when life gets tricky, real real tricky - it’s good to have some guys around.
Klaus and Rusty
(For those interested in more details - there is an article on my site. Go to Geology, then Some Animals, then scroll down to Shield Shrimp).