Asexual reproduction can be very advantageous to certain animals. Animals that remain in one particular place and are unable to look for mates would need to reproduce asexually. Another advantage of asexual reproduction is that numerous offspring can be produced without costing the parent a great amount of energy of time. Environments that are stable and experience very little change are the best places for organisms that reproduce asexually. A disadvantage of this type of reproduction is the lack of genetic variation. All of the organisms are genetically identical and therefore share the same weaknesses. If the stable environment changes, the consequences could be deadly to all of the individuals. Animals are not the only organisms that reproduce asexually. Yeasts, plants and bacteria are capable of asexual reproduction as well. bacterial asexual reproduction most commonly occurs by a kind of cell division called binary fission.
The purpose of this book is to consolidate all this information and present it in a simple way for the benefit of the students, as well as teachers and researchers. |
