Reproduction

3061 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reproductive system quizlet

THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

The ability to reproduce is one of the unifying characteristics of all living things. Sexual reproduction produces offspring that are genetically different from their parents. Asexual reproduction produces offspring genetically identical to their parent.

Asexual Reproduction

Fission, budding, fragmentation, and the formation of rhizomes and stolons are some of the mechanisms that allow organisms to reproduce asexually. The hydra produces buds; starfish can regenerate an entire body from a fragment of the original body. Asexual reproduction allows an organism to rapidly produce many offspring without the time and resources committed to courtship, finding a mate, and mating. The lack of genetic variability in asexually reproducing populations can be detrimental when environmental conditions change quickly.
Sexual Reproduction

In sexual reproduction new individuals are produced by the fusion of haploid gametes to form a diploid zygote. Sperm are male gametes, ova are female gametes. Meiosis produces cells that are genetically distinct from each other; fertilization is the fusion of two such distinctive cells that produces a unique new combination of alleles, thus increasing variation on which natural selection can operate.
Rotifers will reproduce asexually when conditions are favorable by having females produce eggs by mitosis. When conditions deteriorate, rotifers will reproduce sexually and encase their zygotes inside a resistant shell. Once conditions improve, these eggs hatch into diploid individuals. Rotifers thus use sexual reproduction as way to survive a deteriorating environment.
Sexual reproduction offers the benefit of generating genetic variation among offspring, which enhances the chances of the population's survival. Costs of this process include the need for two individuals to mate, courtship rituals, as well as a number of basic mechanisms described later.
Human Reproduction and Development

Human reproduction employs internal fertilization, and depends on the integrated action of hormones, the nervous system, and the reproductive system. Gonads are sex organs that produce gametes. Male gonads are the testes, which produce sperm and male sex hormones. Female gonads are the ovaries, which produce eggs and female sex hormones.
The Male Reproductive System

Testes are suspended outside the abdominal cavity by the scrotum, a pouch of skin that keeps the testes close or far from the body at an optimal temperature for sperm development. Seminiferous tubules are inside each testis, and are where sperm are produced by meiosis. About 250 meters (850 feet) of tubules are packed into each testis. Spermatocytes inside the tubules divide by meiosis to produce spermatids that in turn develop into mature sperm.

Show More
Related

  • Reproduction

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reproduction is one of the important physiological systems that are important in the life cycle of living organisms including fish. The main objective of the reproduction is to maintain the existence of the species and therefore fish has a strategies and tactics to achieve this objective. The reproduction behaviours are important to be studied in relation to know the population dynamic of fishes and their spawning seasons. This information is very crucial in relation to the development of breeding

    Read More

  • Reproduction Research Paper

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    inheritance from parent to offspring (Campbell undated). In the following essay I will discuss the reproductive process and how the passing of genes leads to offspring having similarities to their parents. In addition I will look at the two methods of reproduction and how each leads to similar or different traits expressed in the offspring, as well as the evolutionary significance of genetic variation within a population. Every cell in every living organism contains DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is

    Read More

  • Human Development and Reproduction

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    in females store the eggs. During human sexual reproduction the male penis ejaculates inside of the female vagina. This releases semen in the uterus. The semen has sperm in it which finds as egg or eggs in the female and fertilizes them. When an egg is fertilized by one sperm, no other sperm can enter it because its outer surface become hardened. When this happens it will then undergo mitosis and develop into a baby. Human development and reproduction are influenced by things like hormones and environment

    Read More

  • Donor Assisted Reproduction

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Should Children Born from Donor-Assisted Reproduction Have Access to Information about their Genetic Parents? Donor-assisted insemination is a process that enables a woman to conceive a child through the donated sperm/egg of a male or female. Donor insemination is a technique that has been used around the world for fifty eight years. This technique is often used in situations where a man or woman suffer from infertility and are unable to produce children on their own. Donor-insemination is also

    Read More

  • Plant Reproduction

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plants have two different ways to reproduce. The first one is vegetative reproduction. With this type all the plants that have the same parent have the same genetic make-up. This also lets plants pass adaptations on that they have abtained over the years. Plants with good genetic make-up usually spread quickly and take over an area. An example of this would be the dandelion. These plants can sprout from any part of the plant. An example of this is the potato, farmers will pick the potatoes and cut

    Read More

  • Cellular Reproduction

    2640 Words  | 6 Pages

    Cellular Reproduction Cellular Reproduction is the process by which all living things produce new organisms similar or identical to themselves. This is essential in that if a species were not able to reproduce, that species would quickly become extinct. Always, reproduction consists of a basic pattern: the conversion by a parent organism of raw materials into offspring or cells that will later develop into offspring. (Encarta, 2) In almost all animal organisms, reproduction occurs during

    Read More

  • Thoughts on Assisted Reproduction

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Assisted reproduction is the use of assisted reproductive technology to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. The results and the implication of these different techniques and technologies in the society raises questions on the morality of these acts. Are these acts always right or wrong? Are they only right for certain groups of people? Are they morally correct? Those are the kind of questions that many people have on their mind, but the plurality of arguments makes it difficult

    Read More

  • Ethical Concerns of Assisted Reproduction

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    of their marital status, age, or sexual orientation, to have a new opportunity for genetically or biologically connected children. With these developments come a number of rather complex ethical issues and ongoing discussions regarding assisted reproduction within our society today. These issues include the use of reproductive drugs, gestational services such as surrogacy as well as the rights of those seeking these drugs and services and the responsibilities of the professionals who offer and practice

    Read More

  • Technology Assisted Reproduction

    3289 Words  | 7 Pages

    Technology Assisted Reproduction Introduction Reproduction is fundamental for the perpetuation of a species and therefore is a trait all species possess. Human reproduction is usually not viewed in this context. Extinction of humans is not considered a threat, but the ability to reproduce is an issue of meeting social expectations. Psychologist Dr. Helen Fisher states that society tends to pressure women into feeling that motherhood is their sole connection to being female (Rutter, 1996)

    Read More

  • Sexual Reproduction of Spiders

    1568 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the largest issues in animal sexual reproduction is the conflict of interests between the female and the male of the species. For example, multiple mating has been shown to greatly increase the fertilization rate for the male, but recent studies have shown that multiple mating also benefits the female. The demonstrated benefit to the female is “sequential female choice;” that is, the ability (on the part of the female) to allow the fertilization of her egg clutch with more viable offspring

    Read More

  • The Reproduction Cycle Of Domestic Dogs

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    well in group living situations and are fairly flexible as to the arrangements. In the wild the typical number of wild dogs or wolves in a fully-fledged pack ranges between eight and 15. Usually see one of the dogs as the alpha dog or leader. The reproduction cycle in female dogs has 4 phases. Female dogs have not been spayed typically have 2 estrus or heat periods per year (about 6 months apart), each lasting about 2 to 3 weeks. In some dogs, the intervals between estrus are much longer. The first

    Read More

  • Art and Reproduction: Joan of Arc Images

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    Patriot: Joan of Arc in America During the Gilded Age and the Great War and America. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art in Association with D. Giles, 2006. Print. Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Characteristics and Reproduction of the Fairy Shrimp

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    of the water, zipping quickly and drifting gradually. The shrimp push themselves with a wave-like anterior-posterior thrashing motion of their legs. This feat is completed by the propeller motion of the outermost part of the legs. Fairy shrimp reproduction is introduced when the male hooks the female with its second, grasping antennae. Though the male and females swim embraced together for several days, the process of copulation only takes minutes. Interestingly enough, hours after mating the male

    Read More

  • Clockwork Orange And The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Clockwork Orange and the Age of Mechanical Reproduction For Walter Benjamin, the defining characteristic of modernity was mass assembly and production of commodities, concomitant with this transformation of production is the destruction of tradition and the mode of experience which depends upon that tradition. While the destruction of tradition means the destruction of authenticity, of the originally, in that it also collapses the distance between art and the masses it makes possible the liberation

    Read More

  • Using Assisted Reproduction Techniques and the Implications

    1383 Words  | 3 Pages

    been the new Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART). How far will you go? How perfect will your baby be? These are some questions that people do these days when they make the decision to have descendants. The determination of having children and pregnancy is a complex process. In these are involved psychological, social, economic, religious, and even legal factors. The goal of this article is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using the Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART). Fertility

    Read More

More about Reproduction

Open Document