CAHPTER 6 NOTES

REPRODUCTION IN ANIMALS
All living organisms grow old with time and ultimately die. In fact, every living organisms
remains alive on this earth for a limited period of time and then dies. So, new organisms have
to be produced in place of those who die. The production of new organisms from the existing
organisms of the same species is known as reproduction.
Reproduction is essential for the survival of a species on the earth. So, living organisms
produce more organisms of their kind to maintain the life of their species on this earth. The
process of reproduction ensures continuity of life on earth.

MODE OF REPRODUCTION:
There are different ways in which new organisms are produced from their parents. Some
organisms like Amoeba just split into two parts to produce new Amoebae; some organisms
like Hydra grow out of parent’s body in the form of a bud; some organisms like birds and
snakes hatch out of egg laid by their parents; whereas some organisms like human babies,
kitten and puppies are born from their mother. This means that each species of organisms
reproduces in a different way. All the different ways of reproduction can be divided into two
main groups: asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. Thus there are main two
methods of reproduction in living organisms.
1. Sexual Reproduction:
The production of new organisms from two parents by making use of their gametes
(reproductive cells) is called sexual reproduction. In sexual reproduction, the gamete from
one parent fuses with the gamete of the other parent to form a new cell called ‘zygote’.
This zygote grows and develops to form a new organism. The two parents which are
involved in sexual reproduction are called male and female. The male and female parents
have special organs in them which produce male and female gametes respectively. Human,
fish, frogs, cats, dogs all reproduce by the method of sexual reproduction. In sexual
reproduction, the young one(offspring) produced is not an exact copy of parents.
Male Reproductive Organs
The male reproductive organs in a human being are
• A pair of testes
• Two sperm ducts (vas deference)
• Seminal Vesicle
• Penis
A testis is an endocrine gland which is made up of numerous coiled tubes that produce
sperm cells. Testes produce millions of sperms in it once a male reach at the age of
puberty. These sperms are transported through coiled tubes called epididymis. From
epididymis, the sperms are carried by long tubes called sperm ducts into organ called
seminal vesicles. The sperm has three main parts: head, middle piece and tail. The
sperm is a single cell and is called the male gamete. Sperm ducts transfer the sperms
from the testes to the penis.
Female Reproductive Organs:

A female reproductive organ in a human being are as follows:

• A pair of ovaries
• Oviducts (fallopian tubes)
• Uterus
Ovary is an endocrine gland. There are two ovaries in a female body. Each ovary has the
shape and size almost that of an almond. When a girl reaches puberty, the ovaries are
stimulated by pituitary gland to produce female sex hormone oestrogen. Ovaries
produce eggs or ovum. An egg or an ovum is a single cell. It is called female gamete.
Each ovary releases one egg every month into the oviduct which travels to the uterus.
Uterus is the place where development of the baby take place after fertilization of
gametes. The embryo grows and develops inside the uterus, which is also called womb.

FERTILISATION:

When a sperm and an ovum fuse together, they form a zygote. The fusion of the sperm
with the ovum is called fertilization. Millions of sperms are produced by the testes but
only one fertilizes with the egg. During fertilization, the nuclei of the sperm an ovum
fuse to form a single nucleus. This results in the formation of fertilized egg or zygote.
Zygote is a single cell which undergoes cell division and over a period of time it develops
into an embryo and then into a new individual. The new individual inherits features
from the mother and father. The main stages of fertilization in human being are listed
below:
• Once a month, an ovum is released from the ovary by a process called ovulation.
• The ovum moves into the oviducts.
• The sperm travels through a narrow opening called cervix into the uterus and
then the oviduct.
• A single sperm fuses with the ovum in the oviduct and fertilization takes place.
The fertilized ovum continues its journey down the oviduct, into the uterus.
• The fertilized ovum implants itself into uterus wall and develops into a human
embryo.
IVF ( IN VITRO FERTILISAION)
Some women are unable to have baby because of blockage in the oviduct, due to which
sperm and the egg are unable to meet and fuse. To overcome this, IVF (in vitro
fertilization) technique is used in which freshly released sperms and egg are kept
together for few hours in the laboratory in a sterilized environment. In case fertilization
occurs, the zygote is allowed to develop for about a week and then it is placed in the
mother’s uterus. Complete development take place in the uterus and the baby is born
through this technique is called test-tube baby.

Internal Fertilization:
Fertilization that takes place inside the body of s female is called internal fertilization.
Human being, cat, dog, cow, hen , etc. reproduce by internal fertilization.
External Fertilization:
Fertilization that takes place outside the female body is called external fertilization.
Frogs and toads reproduce by external fertilization.
During the rainy season, frogs and toads move to ponds and slow flowing streams.
When the male and female come together in water, the female lays hundreds of eggs.
Unlike hen’s eggs, frog’s eggs are not covered by a shell and it is comparatively very
delicate. A layer of jelly holds the eggs together and provides protection. As the eggs are
laid, the male deposits sperms over them. Each sperm swims randomly in water with
the help of its long tail. The sperms come in contact with eggs. This results fertilization.
This type of fertilization in which fusion of male and a female gamete takes place
outside the body of female is called external fertilization. It is very common in aquatic
animals such as fish, starfish etc.
Development of Embryo

Fertilisation results in the formation of zygote which begins to develop into an

embryo. The zygote divides repeatedly to give rise to a ball of cells. The cells then
begin to form groups that develop into different tissues and organs of the body.
This developing structure is termed an embryo. The embryo gets embedded in
the wall of the uterus for further development. The embryo continues to develop
in the uterus. It gradually develops body parts such as hands, legs, head, eyes,
ears etc. The stage of the embryo in which all the body parts can be identified is
called a foetus. When the development of the foetus is complete, the mother
gives birth to the baby.
Viviparous and Oviparous Animals
Animals that give birth to their young ones just like human beings are called
viviparous animals such as dog, cow, cat, etc.
Animals that lay eggs which hatch into offspring are called oviparous animals such
as bird, frog, fish, etc.

Shell Formation in the Hen’s Egg

In case of a hen, the fertilization takes place inside the female body, but the
development of the chocks take place outside its body. After fertilization, the
zygote divides and travels through oviducts to the uterus, during which it
develops many protective layers around it. Once the hard shell is formed, the hen
lays the egg. The hen sits on the egg for about three weeks to give warmth to the
developing chick. This period is known as incubation period. After this period, the
developed chick breaks open the shell and is free to move.
Animals that undergo external fertilization also show the same process. The
embryo develops inside the shell. After its complete development, the egg
hatches.
METAMORPHOSIS

Newly born animals such as birds and mammals show features similar to their
parents. But this is not true for all animals. Some insects (like butterfly, housefly,
mosquito) and amphibians (like frog) have different stages of development from
the egg to the adult stage. At every stage of development, the organism has a
different structure. The transformation of a larva into an adult through such
drastic changes is called metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis in frog occurs in three stages during its development from an egg
to an adult. These changes are controlled by the hormone called thyroxine. Like a
fish, a tadpole is adapted to live in water whereas an adult frog is adapted to live
 in water as well as on land. A tadpole breathes through the gills and an adult frog
breathes through lungs. Tadpole and the adult frog are very different in
morphology.
Butterflies and moths also go through these stages of development.
Egg-à Caterpillar(larva) -à Pupa--à Adult

CLONING
Cloning is the production of an exact copy of an animal by means of asexual
reproduction. Any two animals which contain exactly the same genes are called
genetically identical. An animal which is genetically identical to its parents is
called clone.
STORY OF DOLLY
Scientist Dr Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Rosline Institute in Edinburg,
Scotland, successfully cloned a sheep without the use of male sperm.
A cell was taken from the mammary gland of a female Finn Dorsett sheep and an
unfertilized egg was taken from a Scottish blackface ewe. The nucleus was
removed from the unfertilized egg and both the cells were fused. The egg cell of
the unfertilized egg accepted the nucleus of the mammary gland cell and it
started dividing, forming an embryo. This embryo was implanted into the uterus
of the Scottish blackface ewe. It developed into a baby sheep and was born in the
usual way on 5 July 1996 and was named Dolly. Dolly inherited all the genes from
the female Finn Dorsett sheep and it was identical and its clone. Dolly died on 14
February 2003 due to a certain lung disease.

2. ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION:
Asexual reproduction is the production of a new organism from a single parent
without the involvement of gametes. The new organisms produced by asexual
reproduction is exactly identical to the parent. The two most common methods of
asexual reproduction in animals are: Binary Fission and Budding.
(i) Binary fission: Binary fission is an asexual method of reproduction in
which the parent organism splits to form two new organisms. The
unicellular organism called Amoeba reproduces by the method of binary
fission. When Amoeba cell has reached its maximum size of growth,
then first the nucleus of Amoeba lengthens and divides into two parts.
After that the cytoplasm of Amoeba divides into two parts, one part
around each nucleus. In this way, one parent Amoeba divides to form
 two smaller Amoebae (called daughter Amoebae). Amoeba takes about
an hour to divide into two daughter Amoebae. Two daughter Amoebae
produced here grow to their full size by eating food and then divide
again to produce four Amoebae, and so on. The daughter Amoebae
produced by binary fission are identical to the parent.
Another tiny unicellular animal called Paramecium also reproduces by
binary fission. In multiple fission, parent organism splits to form many
new organisms at the same time. Eg. Plasmodium.

(ii) Budding: Budding is a type of asexual reproduction in which a small part

of the body of the parent organism grows out as a ‘bud’ which then
detaches and becomes a new organism. The asexual reproduction by
budding is observed in animals like Hydra, sea-anemones, sponges etc.
Hydra is a simple multicellular animal. In Hydra, first a small outgrowth
called ‘bud’ is formed on the side of its body by the repeated divisions of
its cells. This bud then grows gradually to form a small Hydra by
developing a mouth and tentacle. And finally the tiny new Hydra
detaches itself from the body of parent Hydra and lives as a separate
organism.