Question

Reproduction is essential for living organisms in order to
(a) Keep the individual organisms alive.
(b) Fulfill their energy requirement
(c) Maintain growth
(d) Continue the species generation after generation

Answer 1

Hint: Each and every organism living on this earth can live only once as no one is immortal. There must be some process to maintain continuity.
Reproduction refers to the biological process of giving birth to their young ones similar to themselves. Reproduction is essential for living organisms in order to continue the species generation after generation. It maintains the variation present in a population and its inheritance.

Additional Information: There are two modes of reproduction:
1. Asexual Reproduction: This method involves the production of offsprings from a single parent. It may take place with or without the production of gametes. It results in the production of an exact copy of the parent which is known as ‘clone'. It can take place by different mechanisms such as binary fission, budding, conjugation, spore formation, etc.
2. Sexual Reproduction: This method involves the formation of a zygote (embryo) by the fusion of male and female gametes produced by the same individual or by different individuals. The offsprings produced are not identical to their parents.
So, the correct answer is ‘Continue the species generation after generation’.

Note:
1. In plants, the practice of asexual reproduction is known as vegetative propagation. It takes place with the help of vegetative propagules such as runner, rhizome, sucker, tuber, offset, bulb, etc.
2. In prokaryotes such as bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes such as Protista, the cell division is itself a mode of reproduction
3. Regeneration of organs as seen in Starfish and other organisms cannot be considered as a mode of reproduction.