Bio.

II Module 7
REPRODUCTION

A : Overview of Animal Reproduction

B : Mechanisms of Sexual Reproduction
C : Mammalian Reproduction
LEARNING OBJECTIVES OF MODULE 7
• The successful students at the end of this Reproduction module should
be able to;
1. Describe the animal reproduction in general
2. Describe the mechanisms of animal reproduction systems
3. Describe the mammalian reproduction
3

Comparison of asexual and sexual

reproduction

Asexual Reproduction Sexual Reproduction

• Produces more Both • Slower

offspring • Need to find a mate
• Only need one Types of • More complex
reproduction
parent (easier) • Mix of parents
in living
• Simpler organisms • Allows for high
• Exact copy of amounts of
parent Pass DNA variations
• NO variation from parent • Better at adapting to
• Preserves “genetic to offspring environment
continuity” • Mutations! (bad
ones)
A: Overview of Animal Reproduction
• Animal reproduction is one of the two phases of life cycle;
1. Reproduction, this phase is the formation of new individuals from pre-
existing ones, this entails the transfer of genetic information in the form of
DNA from parents to offspring
2. Development, this is the phase of sequence of life stages leading from the
adults of one generation to the adults of the next generation

Animal Reproduction
• Animal species have finite life spans of their individual members by
reproduction, the creation of new members from the existing ones and
animals do reproduce in a great variety of ways;
1. Asexual Reproduction
• This is the creation of offsprings whose genes all come from one parent
without the fusion of egg and sperm.
• This is done in many ways;
a) Many invertebrates reproduce asexually by budding.
This is the splitting off new individuals from existing ones
b) Fission, is another way of asexual reproduction.
where an individual seperates into two or more individuals of about equal
size
c) Fragmentation, which is the breaking up of the parent's body into
several pieces.
If all the pieces contain the animal's central disk, will develop into a
whole new organism
Advantages of Asexual Reproduction
a.) Allows animals that do not move or live in isolation to produce offsprings
without finding mates.
b.) Allows animals to produce many offspring quickly
c.) No time or energy is lost in gamete production or fertilization.
d.) Allows perpetuation of a particular genotype precisely and rapidly

Potential Disadvantage of Asexual Reproduction

a.) Genetically uniform populations may thrive in one environment but if the
environment changes to unfavorable levels to survive, the entire population
may perish.
2. Sexual Reproduction
• Sexual reproduction as opposed to asexual reproduction is the creation
of offspring by the fusion of two haploid (n) sex cells, or gametes, to
form a diploid (2n) zygote.
• The male gamete, the sperm, is generally a small cell that moves by
means of a flagellum. The female gamete, the ovum (unfertilized egg), is
usually a relatively large cell that is not self propelled.

Zygote
• The zygote and the new individual it develops into contain a unique
combination of genes carried from both parents via the egg and sperm.
• This type of reproduction increases genetic variability among offspring.
(ie. meiosis and random fertilization generate enormous genetic
variation)
• The variability produced by the reshuffling of genes (alleles) in sexual
reproduction, provide for greater adaptability to changing environments
• In theory, when an environment changes suddenly or drastically, there
is a better chance that some of the variant offspring will survive and
reproduce than if all offspring are genetically very similar.
• Many animals can reproduce both sexually and asexually benefiting
from both types of reproduction.
• Though sexual reproduction has advantages, it presents a problem for
non-mobile animals and those that live solitary lives, on how to find a
mate.
• One solution that has evolved overtime is hermaphroditism.
Hermaphroditism
• These are animals that have both female and male reproductive systems.
• The majority of tapeworms are hermaphrodites, meaning they can
fertilize their own eggs.
• However, mating must occur in many other hermaphrodites.
• When these mate, each serves as both male and female, donating and
receiving sperm.
• Hermaphrodites, each individual is a potential mate and produce many
more offspring
B. Mechanisms of Sexual Reproduction
Gametogenesis: Formation of gametes (sperm in males, eggs in females)
via meiosis, which reduces chromosome number by half.
Fertilization: The fusion of male and female gametes to form a zygote.
This can be external (common in aquatic animals like fish and
amphibians) or internal (common in terrestrial animals, reptiles, birds,
and mammals).
1. External Fertilization
• This is mainly a property of many aquatic invertebrates, and most fishes
and amphibians.
• Here parents discharge their gametes into the water where fertilization
occur, often without any physical contact between parents.
• Eggs and sperms are released by either chemical signals or day length
and some have specific courtship rituals, like frogs.
• These trigger gamete release at the same vicinity by female and male.
• The eggs and sperms are produced in great numbers to increase the
chances of fertilization
2. Internal Fertilization
• This unlike the external fertilization, occurs when sperm are deposited
in or close to the female reproductive tract and gametes unite within the
female's body.
• Nearly all terrestrial animals have internal fertilization.
• Which is an adaptation that protects developing eggs from excessive
heat and drying .
• Internal fertilization usually requires copulation, or sexual intercourse.
• It also requires complex reproductive systems, including the copulatory
organs and receptacles for storing sperms and transporting them to the
eggs.
• Forinstance, of these complex structures, we turn to the human female
and male
Development:
• Oviparous: Animals lay eggs (e.g., birds, reptiles, fish).
• Ovoviviparous: Eggs develop inside the mother; young are born live
but nourishment is from the egg yolk (e.g., some sharks, reptiles).
• Viviparous: Embryo develops inside the mother’s body with
nourishment directly from her (e.g., most mammals).
• Reproductive Strategies: Mating behaviors and courtship rituals ensure
successful fertilization.
• Many species show parental care to increase offspring survival.
C. Mammalian Reproduction
• All mammals that are terrestrial reproduce by the internal sexual
reproduction.
• This is basically because the egg and the developing new organism need
to be protected from any extreme changes to the environment.
• It is also a fact that the successful fusion of gametes would require a
moist environment.
• All mammals reproduce sexually and tend to have long lives, reproduce
slowly compared to many other species.
• They normally have fewer offspring coupled with long generaion time,
without variation that sexual fertilization provide, they may not have
been able survive