--- ## Definition - The biological sex of an animal can either be **male or female**. - Some species of living things do not have differing sexes between individuals like **bacteria and viruses.** - Traditionally the male impregnates a female by transmitting his *sperm* to her egg or eggs. The female will then develop/lay that egg which is the general process of [[Reproduction]]. >[!warning] >Its important to note that even amongst [[Species]] with distinct sexes the process of reproduction varies wildly. --- ## Why is sex confusing for evolutionary biologists? - It is confusing since it is possible for animals to **clone themselves** *(and many animals do).* This suggests that sex for reproduction has been selected for over time through the process of natural selection. - In theory cloning one's self should be more advantageous then sex since it requires less energy and as a result puts individuals in less danger since sex requires animals to go out and *compete for a mate.* Aesexual reproduction allows the same population to produce twice as many offspring as sexual reproduction - Needing sex to reproduce also opens up the **possibility for fungus and other parasites** to spread more easily killing individual in a species. *(this can also be related to the spreading of STDs in humans and other animals)*. --- ## Possible reasons for sexual reproduction - Aesexual reproduction makes it very hard for animals to [[Evolution|evolve]] since all variation would be the result of mutations **which are fairly rare especially compared to the variations that arise from sexual reproduction**. - This allows animals that sexually reproduce to adapt to different environmental factors much faster then Aesexual species *(assuming they don't die out)*. --- #subpage