Sexual Reproduction or Asexual Reproduction?

Why do many organisms use sexual reproduction when asexual reproduction is so rapid and simple? The answer can be found if we look at the offspring produced by these two different methods of reproduction.

In asexual reproduction the offspring are all identical to one another. This is not surprising as they all had the same parent.

If we observe the offspring of a species of organism which uses sexual reproduction we see that the offspring all look like their parents but they are not identical.

Offspring from sexual reproduction are produced by the fertilization of an egg by a sperm. The offspring has two parents so it will show a mixture of the characteristics of these two parents.

• Sheep Breeding
• Sexual Reproduction in Populations of Wild Animals and Plants
• Chapter Summary (useful for revison)
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© Paul Billiet and Shirley Burchill 2009