One evening, Abdul spotted a lizard in his room. In an attempt to shoo it away with a broom, the lizard's tail suddenly broke off and kept wriggling on the floor. Abdul got sad, thinking he had hurt the lizard badly. His father explained that many lizards can regrow their tails if they lose them. This ability is called regeneration.
Abdul wondered if this meant a new lizard can grow from the broken tail in the same way some animals reproduce new individuals. However, his biology teacher clarified that regrowing a tail is not reproduction. It only replaces a lost body part. In some simple animals, regeneration can actually produce a whole new organism. But in lizards, regeneration only replaces the lost body part (or tail) and does not create a new lizard.
(a) Name two animals that use regeneration for producing a new organism.
(b) What type of reproduction do the animals named by you above show?
(c) How is this type of reproduction different from how a dog gives birth to puppies?

Question

KnowledgeBoat · Accepted Answer

(a) Two animals that can produce a new organism by regeneration are Planaria and Hydra.

(b) These animals show asexual reproduction. In this process, a new organism develops from a single parent without the involvement of gametes.

(c) This type of reproduction is different from reproduction in a dog:

Reproduction in Planaria and Hydra	Reproduction in a dog
Reproduction is asexual	Reproduction is sexual
Only one parent is involved	Two parents (male and female) are involved
No fertilization takes place	Fertilization occurs (fusion of sperm and egg)
Offspring are genetically identical to the parent	Offspring (puppies) show variation and are not identical to both parents

Biology