Similar to plants, animals may also reproduce sexually or asexually.

Asexual Reproduction
 Occurs when the body of the parent grows buds, which eventually falls off and grows on
its own.
 This happen to animals that are stationary
 Advantageous as the animals produce numerous offspring.
 There is no improvement in the charateristics of the animal.
 Any change in the animal’s environment may be fatal to the animal
Sexual Reproduction
 Produces offspring by combining the genetic material of more than one parent.
 Most animals and all humans reproduce sexually.
 The female parent produces the egg and the male parent produces the sperm.
METHODS OF REPRODUCTION IN SOME ANIMALS
HYDRA
Organisms of the genus hydra lives in freshwater lakes, ponds, and streams. The hydra develops
a bud which is attached to the parent until it is fully formed. Once it is fully formed, it detaches
from its parent. The young hydra is now free to swim on its own until it finds support and starts
to reproduce.

Hydras generally reproduce asexually during warm weather. Sexual reproduction usually occurs
in autumn when the cold climate triggers the development of sperm and eggs. Sperm cells are
released in the water. Some reach the ovary of a nearby hydra, and one sperm fertilizes an egg
cell. The fertilized egg or zygote then divides and grows into a ball of cells with a hard cover.
The cover is an adaptation that protects the embryo until it develops into a new hydra.

SPONGE

Sponges are able to reproduce asexually and sexually. In some sponges, the new individual buds
from the parent. In others, the parent sponge breaks into many fragments, and each fragment
grows into a new sponge.

Sponges can also reproduce sexually. After the male sponges release sperm cells into the water,
water currents carry the sperms to female sponges where fertilization occurs. The fertilized eggs
develop into larvae, which are thn released. They swim in the ocean for a few days after which,
these larvae attach themselves to a solld surface and grow into new sponges.

CNIDARIANS: JELLYFISH
The jellyfish belong to phylum Cnidaria. It has two different body forms during their life cycle:
polyp stage and medusa stage. The adult medusa releases either sperm or egg into the water
where fertilization occurs. The resulting zygote develops into a blastula, which develops into a
planula. The planula settles and attaches to the ocean floor, becoming a polyp. As the polyp
grows, it forms into the medusa in the process called strobilation, wherein reproductive
structures are formed. Each of these stacks from the medusa then buds off and develops into a
jellyfish.

STARFISH

Fragmentation is another type of asexual reproduction in simple animals. In fragmentation, an

organism breaks into two or more parts, each of which may grow into a separate individual.
Starfish are animals that can reproduce by fragmentation because starfish eat oysters, people
used to think starfish can be killed by chopping them into pieces and throwing the pleces back in
the water little did they know that they were helping the starfish multiply

FLATWORMS

Most living flatworms, such as planaria, are aquatic. Flatworms can reproduce asexually by
regeneration. When a planaria regenerates, it is cut into two and each part regrows in to a whole
individual.

Flatworms also reproduce sexually. Most species are hermaphrodites. Hermaphrodites are
organisms having both male and female reproductive organs. During mating, two Hatworms
exchange sperm so that the eggs of both flatworms are fertilized. A flatworm usually does not
fertilize itself.

AnnelIDS

Earthworms and leeches are annelids. Most annelids reproduce sexually. Earthworms are
hermaphrodites, but an individual worm cannot fertilize its own eggs. For mating to occur, two
earthworms join head to tail. Together, they form a mucus coat around the joined part of their
bodies. Each earthworm injects sperm into the mucus. Sperm from one worm moves to the
pouchlike seminal receptacle of the other. At about the same time, eggs are also released. After
several days, a mucus and a chitin sheath is secreted by the clitellum, a swelling around the sex
organs. Afterward, when the worm wriggles to move out of the clitellum, fertilization occurs and
a cocoon is formed. Weeks later, a baby worm hatches and slips out of the cocoon.

MOLLUSKS

Mollusks, such as land snails, are hermaphroditic. But in most aquatic species, the sexes are
distinct. Eggs are fertilized internally. Cephalopods, such as squids, have separate sexes. The
male uses a specialized tentacle to transfer sperm from its cavity to the cavity of the female,
where fertilization occurs. The female lays a mass of fertilized eggs encased in a gelatinous
material. The female guards these eggs until they hatch
ARTHROPODS

Spiders, insects, centipedes, scorpions, shrimps, crabs, and lobsters are all arthropods. The most
numerous of these are the insects.The growth and development of insects usually involve
metamorphosis, which is a pfocess of transforming in a different shape and form. In incomplete
metamorphosis, the young look like the adults. These young are called nymphs. Nymphs
gradually acquire adult structures such as wings and functional sex organs. Insects, such as bees,
moths, and beetles, metamorphosis. These insects lay eggs that hatch into larvae that look
different from the changes into a pupa, afterwhich, development into adult takes place.

VERTEBRATES
Vertebrates undergo sexual reproduction, which starts with fertilization. Depending on the
animal, fertilization may occur either outside or inside the female’s body. Frogs undergo external
fertilization. The female frog releases her eggs first, then the male frog releases sperm over the
eggs to fertilize them. The frogs leave the fertilized eggs to develop on their own. In about two
weeks, the eggs hatch into tadpoles.

Some fishes and amphibians reproduce by externalfertilization, in which the sperm fertilizes the
egg outside the female’s body. External fertilization must take place in a moist environment so
that the delicate systems do not dry out. Fish and amphibians lay their eggs in water or in very
moist areas.

With internal fertilization, the egg and sperm join inside the female’s body. Reptiles, birds,
mammals and some fishes reproduce by internal fertilization. Reptiles lay their eggs on land. To
prevent the eggs from drying out, the embryos within the reptile eggs are each surrounded by a
watertight protective membrane called chorion. The chorion allows oxygen to enter the egg and
carbon dioxide to leave. Within the chorion is another membrane called amnion, which encloses
the embryo within a watery environment. This kind of watertight, fluid-filled egg is called
amniotic egg. Each egg is provided with a large amount of rich food for the embryo called yolk.
The zygote develops within the egg, eventually taking the form of a miniature adult before it
completely uses up the yolk. The egg then hatches and the young develops into an adult.

Amniotic eggs are also found in birds and mammals. The shell of bird egg is hard enough to
withstand the weight of the adult bird during incubation. The young that hatches from the eggs of
most bird speciesare not able to survive unaided, since their development is still incomplete. The
young birds are fed and nurtured by their parents, and they grow to maturity gradually.

The most primitive mammals, the monotremes, lay are oviparous and eggs like the reptiles. The
living mohotremes include the duck-billed platypus and the echidna. No other mammals lay
eggs.

Other mammals, such as marsupials and placental mammals, bear their young alive. The young
of these mammals are nourished and protected by their mother. Marsupials, like the kangaroo,
are viviparous and bear their young alive. At the early stage of its development, the young crawls
into its mother's pouch called marsupium. Inside the marsupium, the young quickly locates a
nipple and grabs onto with its jaws. It spends the next several months attached there, growing
sufficiently large and independent so that it can leave the pouch.

Placental mammals give birth to their young alive. After birth, most placental mammals provide
their young with a period of care. The duration of this parental care varies among different
species. The young of monkeys and humans are helpless at birth and for quite some time. These
infants depend on their mother for food and protection, and they spend several years growing up
before they are able to live on their own.