A great world adventurer discovered a tribe of women in the jungles of Brazil. After many years of very close study and experimentation, he found that sexual reproduction was not possible, yet women in the tribe were getting pregnant and having children. He also noticed that the female children resembled their mothers to a great degree and found that all the women had a gene that prevented meiosis. Ovulation occurred as usual, and pregnancy lasted nine months. The mothers nursed their children for three months after birth and became pregnant the next month. This cycle was repeated in all the women of the tribe.

Consider the topics of meiosis, mitosis, sexual reproduction, and regular hormonal cycles in women, and explain in detail what may be happening in this tribe.

What kinds of reproduction are possible among living things? Where did this new gene that prevents meiosis come from? Why would these women be 'pregnant?' What does pregnant mean? What does nursing have to do with the nature of their reproduction? What might have been the selective advantage in this population for keeping this gene around?