![]() That will not fix the issue of lack of mates or carrying on the species for an indefinite period of time. This is not ideal, of course, because it will only produce female offspring since the baby will be a clone of the mother. Lack of available partners, an immediate threat on the female's life, or other such trauma may result in parthenogenesis being necessary to continue the species. Parthenogenesis is when an offspring comes from an unfertilized egg. This is not the preferred method of reproduction for most of these species, but it may become the only way to reproduce for some of them for various reasons. However, there are some complex animals and plants that can reproduce via parthenogenesis when necessary. The more complex the species, the more likely they are to undergo sexual reproduction as opposed to asexual reproduction. Sponges, some flatworms, and certain types of fungi can also undergo fragmentation. Each arm has all the parts necessary to create a whole new individual through fragmentation. They have a central nerve ring in the middle that branches out into five rays, or arms. ![]() This is mostly due to their radial symmetry. Sea stars can have any of their five arms broken off and then regenerated into offspring. The most well known species that undergoes fragmentation is the starfish, or sea star. The piece may be broken off naturally or could be broken off during an injury or other life threatening situation. The original organism also regenerates the piece that broke off. ![]() Fragmentation happens when a piece of an individual breaks off and a brand new organism forms around that broken piece. These types species can undergo a type of asexual reproduction known as fragmentation. Some species are designed to have many viable parts that can live independently all found on one individual. However, without diversity, natural selection cannot work and if there are no mutations to make more favorable traits, asexually reproducing species may not be able to survive a changing environment. Not having to find a mate is advantageous and allows a parent to pass down all of its traits to the next generation. This means there is no mixing of genes and the offspring is actually a clone of the parent (barring any sort of mutations).Īsexual reproduction is generally used in less complex species and is quite efficient. Sexual reproduction requires both a male and a female gamete with different genetics to fuse during fertilization, therefore creating an offspring that is different from the parents. Asexual reproduction only requires a single parent that will pass down all of its genes to the offspring. There are two types of reproduction: sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. Those individuals with undesirable traits will, theoretically, eventually be bred out of the population and only the individuals with the "good" traits will live long enough to reproduce and pass down those genes to the next generation. Natural selection, the mechanism for evolution, chooses which traits are favorable adaptations for a given environment and which are unfavorable. All living things must reproduce in order to pass down genes to the offspring and continue to ensure the survival of the species.
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