A method for confirming the ancience of this phenomenon by determining the degree of divergence between allelic pairs was demonstrated in bdelloid rotifers by Meselson.  
In a landmark review by Judson and Normark, the unexpected discovery of organisms which had long displayed this characteristic was termed "scandalous".  Darwinulids display unusually low genetic diversity for organisms with this characteristic.  A method for confirming the ancience of this phenomenon by determining the degree of divergence between allelic pairs was demonstrated in bdelloid rotifers by Meselson.  The accumulation of harmful mutations in organisms with this characteristic is called Muller's ratchet.  In plants, apomixis and a process involving nucellar tissue are two sorts of this process, and another type, which is employed by sharks and Daphnia, is called parthenogenesis.  For 10 points, name this process employed by bacteria and protists in which offspring are produced without gamete fusion or fertilization.
In a landmark review by Judson and Normark, the unexpected discovery of organisms which had long displayed this characteristic was termed "scandalous".  
asexual reproduction (accept asexuality, absence of sex, or other equivalents indicating that sex is not happening; clonal reproduction or equivalents involving clonality are acceptable until ''sharks'', at which point they become incorrect--parthenogenesis in sharks, and in many organisms, is automictic, involves meiosis, and is not clonal.  Parthenogenesis is not acceptable at any point.)