Possibility for speciation events with non-recombining genomes: the bdelloid rotifers

Is speciation possible in the absence of sexual recombination? Theory predicts that reproductive isolation is a key mechanism in special events; thus, organisms that have non-recombining genomes should not have species as we know them. Bdelloid rotifers, a group of microscopic aquatic animals, have been dubbed an 'evolutionary scandals' because they do not know the theory and more than 450 obligately parthenogenetic species are known from morphology. I will provide empirical evidence to test three alternative hypotheses to explain the apparent evolutionary paradox of bdelloid rotifers: 1) bdelloids may have some hidden sex and thus bdelloid species are a consequence of reproductive isolation; 2) bdelloid species do not exist and are merely figments of taxonomists' imagination; 3) speciation may happen even in the absence of sexual recombination. As a concluding remark, I will try to convince that sexual recombination not only is not so important as a mechanism favouring speciation, but actually it could be a hindrance to speciation events.