@Solarn Hmm, strictly speaking I wouldn't say it's slower, no. The mutation rate is the same, and because there is no recombination with mates, there's no source of 'healthy' genes to correct 'errors'. The genes in one line of clones are also stuck with each other in a way which sexual evolution avoids; they don't get matched up with other members of the 'gene pool', just one set of traits.
Also, large gene pools can supposedly have a stabilizing effect. In an asexual species, each individual is effectively its own species so there's nothing keeping mutations from going further.
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@Solarn Hmm, strictly speaking I wouldn't say it's slower, no. The mutation rate is the same, and because there is no recombination with mates, there's no source of 'healthy' genes to correct 'errors'. The genes in one line of clones are also stuck with each other in a way which sexual evolution avoids; they don't get matched up with other members of the 'gene pool', just one set of traits.
Also, large gene pools can supposedly have a stabilizing effect. In an asexual species, each individual is effectively its own species so there's nothing keeping mutations from going further.