One of the characteristics of the animal kingdom is its ability to reproduce. Like birth, growth and death, reproduction is part of their life cycle. Not all reproduce in the same way, according to their characteristics and their environment, therefore, in this article we explain how animals reproduce detailing the types of reproductions and the conditions necessary for them to occur.
Steps to follow:
We will start talking about sexual reproductions, that is, that type of reproduction in which a female is required to be fertilized by the male’s sperm in order to become pregnant. Within this type of reproduction, there are animals that practice internal fertilization (as would be, for example, in the case of people) or external fertilization; Here we tell you the differences:
- Internal fertilization: the sperm fertilizes the egg when the male is inside the female’s body. Mammals, birds, insects and reptiles are the ones that carry out this type of fertilization; Just like humans. The operation of this process consists of the male putting sperm inside the egg to cause the gestation of the embryo.
- External fertilization: this occurs when the entry of the sperm into the egg takes place outside the body of the female; This occurs especially in marine animals such as fish and amphibians. The procedure is that the female puts different eggs in the water and it is the male who spreads his sperm on them until they are fertilized.
Animals that practice sexual reproduction can be differentiated according to whether they are viviparous animals or oviparous animals; This depends on the way in which they have to gestate the embryo since there are some who do it internally, that is, within the mother’s belly the fetus develops (as in the case of people) and others that the development is done externally, in eggs.
Here are the differences:
- Viviparous animals: those who give birth to their young via are what are known as viviparous. They are the animals that form the embryo inside the mother’s body and the fetus is fed by the umbilical cord that provides the food that the female takes. These animals are mammals that are the ones that have their young with the natural process of childbirth and the duration of pregnancy as well as the number of offspring can be completely variable.
- Oviparous animals: apart from mammals, most animals practice a gestation external to the mother’s body, the offspring develops inside an egg containing the embryo and different layers that protect the offspring. When animals break the shell is when we can talk about the “birth” of these animals; As soon as they leave, it may happen that they are independent enough to go live on their own without the help of the mother (for example, it is the case of fish or reptiles) or, on the contrary, they need the care of their mother until they become a little larger (as is the case of birds).
Depending on how the young leave their respective places of fertilization (the mother’s belly or eggs) the animals can also be divided into different types according to their development is direct or indirect. This simply refers to whether or not animals resemble their adult form, that is, whether when they are born, they appear the same as their mothers.
- Direct development: This is when newborns resemble their parents as soon as they are born; That is, it is noted that they are the same animal but, simply, that they are smaller. This is the case of humans, mammals and some birds.
- Indirect development: this occurs when the offspring that appears is very different in appearance from its mother. This is the case, for example, of frogs that when they are born are tadpoles, something like small fish and that, later, become frogs.
Asexual reproduction is the one that does not need two members of the same species but an animal can bring living beings into the world without being fertilized by someone external. The main characteristic of this type of reproduction is that the genetics are not modified because there are not two channels but only one. There are several types of asexual reproductions:
- Bipartition: they are unicellular beings that split in two to create a new living being.
- Budding: in a living being a lump appears spontaneously that causes a new being to appear. This is the case, for example, of sea sponges.
- Fragmentation: from a fragment of a living being another is created; For example, the arm of a starfish can produce the appearance of a new star.
Within asexual reproduction there are two phenomena that take place on Earth and that should be mentioned in a separate case because they are different modes of animal reproduction in which they do not need a second member to be able to have offspring:
- Hermaphroditism: this type of animal contains in itself the two sexes, the female and the male, so they alone can generate an embryo without the need for any other member. This is the case, for example, of snails.
- Parthenogenesis: It consists of an embryo developing from a part of the body without the need for it to be fertilized. This type of reproduction occurs mainly in arthropods (ants, spiders, etc.) although they also take place in fish or reptiles. The offspring they have is exactly the same as their genetic component because they do not have the intervention of any other organism.
If you want to read similar articles to How animals reproduce, we recommend that you enter our category of The Animal World.
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