I started getting the idea while reading this:<p>What if individual reproduction is NOT the norm?  What if species survival is a combination of reproduction and survival (producing food, defense from predators, etc.).  What if only a fraction of a species are required to be &quot;breeders&quot; and the rest perform survival duties?  What if the apparent majority of sexual reproduction is only a temporary abberation and now that the species has reached a stepping stone, the &quot;temperature&quot; on sexual reproduction is turning down?  Look at bees, for example.  Only a minority of them reproduce while the rest perform survival functions.