Internet Culture

The internet is ready for an all-female species of crayfish to take over the world

Mutant female crayfish inherit the earth?

Photo of Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Marble crayfish
MP cz/Shutterstock (Licensed)

Usually, news of a mutant species that can clone itself would freak everyone out. But the internet responded with optimism and excitement to a study released Monday in Nature that said the marbled crayfish, which didn’t exist until 25 years ago, was popping up in large numbers around the world. The marbled crayfish is a unique species; because of a mutation, it can clone itself. The clones it reproduces are all female.

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Carl Zimmer’s New York Times report on the study was widely shared in a popular tweet about the all-female crayfish:

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The report inspired tweets welcoming our future female crayfish “overlords.”

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And cheers for mutant females.

https://twitter.com/CherylMorgan/status/960791494037778432

https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/960900146916724736

A couple of people made jokes that referenced Beyoncé songs.

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https://twitter.com/bookie_bee/status/960949723929677824

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The mutant crayfish really gave people hope for the future.

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https://twitter.com/dvntae/status/960902858685255680

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And human women wondered how we could clone females like the marbled crayfish.

https://twitter.com/Redpainter1/status/960896246100758528

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https://twitter.com/sanaali_/status/960926059272261633

https://twitter.com/glosswitch/status/960933703420665858

You’re probably still wondering how these mutant crayfish have thrived. According to the Times, “about 1 in 10,000 species comprise cloning females. Many studies suggest that sex-free species are rare because they don’t last long.”

So far, the marbled crayfish have lasted only a couple of decades. Scientists are monitoring how long this species will survive. Maybe the crayfish will survive long enough to briefly take over the world—or at least inspire a sci-fi film about it.

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The Daily Dot