Question

Pick an animal species that reproduces sexually and write a few robust paragraphs about how sexual reproduction is beneficial to the species. Include facts about the species life cycle to support your ideas like habitat, environmental factors, growth and development, etc.

Pick an animal species that reproduces asexually and write a few robust paragraphs about how asexual reproduction is beneficial to the species. Include facts about the species life cycle to support your ideas like habitat, environmental factors, growth and development, etc.

Answer 1

Human species: From the knowledge of unicellular and multicellular forms we know that every living thing has to reproduce. This mechanism works with the nature we live in to produce our offspring’s and keep our lineage alive.

From the evolutionary theory to today's genetic analysis results show us that we are now having 99% of the multicellular life with the sexual reproduction. Human beings live in areas where it is habitable to excel using too extreme climatic conditions. Although, we can see that our lives are influenced and affected by the environmental condition we live in.

As we know that sexual reproduction will reproduce offspring with the genes from both the parents and we have a mix of qualities and it is never the clones that are produced. From the evolutionary theory of natural selection suggests that our human lineages are divided and as we are dispersed in different continents, we are adapted, and our genetic makeup also needs to acquire the change. For example, a human living in Russia and one that lives in Africa will have a difference in their color, height, body structure, and so on. As they adapt to their habitat and cope up with the environmental changes, this is well supported by the changes with the sexual reproduction carrying the genes. Their growth and development cycle remain the same only difference is made with the adaptive changes that various groups of humans have acquired that help them live longer.

Finally, we can say that "sex must offer some evolutionary advantage that outweighs the obvious disadvantages of the asexual reproduction".

Asexual reproduction in bacteria: There is various evidence noticed in the study of life that the first life on earth was a simple organism. Initially, way before the multicellular life also sexual reproduction came into the picture, we have known that organisms divided asexually.

Asexual reproduction in common sense is cell division. It is something that we see in bacteria. They are known to have habitat even in the most extreme conditions. Their lives are heavily influenced by changes in the natural environment.

Their advantages are

i) Asexual reproduction help them divide quickly,

ii) Keep them safe in the case of the harsh condition by producing spores,

iii) They save a lot of energy also their system is simply how they function the life processes.

iv) As they can divide quickly, they can produce a lot of offerings and in a quick time, they can have multiple progenies that can survive and keep their lineage.

v) This process does not create "individual differences", so the progeny are the clones of the parents.

vi) As their cellular design is simple, they can easily reproduce by asexual reproduction.

vii) They develop to change with the environment less and their life cycle can be halted as well.