why does sexual reproduction produce grater variation among offspring than asexual reproduction? why is this important for the process of evolution?
2006-09-12 11:33:44 · 6 answers · asked by Kevin Li 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
The previous answer is excellent. I would only add that there needs to be as much variation in the gene pool as possible to allow for adaption to changes in the environment, which not going to happen if only one set of genes is being reproduced.
Some species of insect (like greenfly) use both methods - asexual when times are good, because the creature is under no sort of pressure to adapt to new circumstances, and sexual reproduction when times are bad, because this is the best way of assuring survival if the environment has changed.
This is why greenfly are so common!
Plants which have flowers use sexual reproduction to spread their genes. Plants often flower when under environmental stress in a last ditch attempt to pass on their genes. Again the idea is to have as many different individuals around as possible.
Gardeners sometimes take cuttings to grow plants because they do not want changes in the colours of the flowers. This sometimes means that weaknesses are passed on from the parent plant to the new one. This is another reason why asexual reproduction can be less successful - weaknesses are more likely to be passed on if you have only one set of genes to work with.
2006-09-12 12:04:45 · answer #1 · answered by tagette 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, let's see. Asexual reproduction would be a splitting of the genome of the parent such as an amoeba, for a simple example. Sexual reproduction requires the genetic material of two parents be combined. The combinations possible are infinite, right (well, not infinite but close). Therefore, with sexual reproduction and the numerous possible combinations of DNA the possibility for evolutionary process exists where it would be rare in asexual reproduction. Hey, it's a start. Check the website for the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The double helix was discovered there and you'll find a boat load of stuff on their site for students.
2006-09-12 11:44:14 · answer #2 · answered by canela 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Asexual reproduction is when eggs and sperm are in the same animal. When it's sexual reproduction, then two animals both create a new animal of that species together. Therefore, when there are genes from two animals combined, that creates greater variation. This is important to evolution because when there is more variety in the animals that mate, the animals evolve into something different.
2006-09-12 11:44:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because in asexual reproduction, it is the exact same copy of the producer. in sexual production, there are different possibilities (think eye colors, chins, hair color, curly/straight hair) because of the recessive and dominant alleles. evolution is a change over time, so each generation is going to change a little bit and after a long time humans will look very different than they did 1 million years ago.. hope this helped!
2006-09-12 12:30:42 · answer #4 · answered by abbs 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because in asexual reproduction there is only one organism involved. They don't have many genes to split. Were as in sexual reproduction it involves two organisms, both will create more variations in gene types of offsprings.
2006-09-12 11:37:19 · answer #5 · answered by thatshowiroll 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yay! I love bio. Anyway, when there are two parents, there are alot more possibilities for what the offspring will look like. If things only asexually reproduced, they would all look the same - there would be no variation. Hope that helps
2006-09-12 11:39:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋