DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL AGRA

(Under the aegis of The Delhi Public School Society, East of Kailash New Delhi )
Grade-VIII Notes
Topic-Reproduction in Animals

 Reproduction is the biological process by which new individuals are produced. It is important for continuation
of similar kind of species generation after generation.
 There are two basic types of reproduction : Sexual and Asexual
Sexual Reproduction-In sexual reproduction two parents (a male and a female) are needed to produce a new
individual. Each parent produces special cells called gametes.
 Male gametes are called sperms and female gametes are called ova.

Male reproductive system (Human): It consists of the following organs-

Testes-They are oval shaped and two in number. They are present outside the body in lower abdominal area within the
scrotum.
 Testes produce the male gametes. Sperms are single celled and composed of a head, a middle piece and a tail.
Tail helps in the movement of sperm to reach the female gamete.
Sperm duct (Vas deferens)- Sperms are carried by sperm duct from testes to urethra.
Penis: It is a muscular organ that transfers sperms into the female reproductive tract.

Female reproductive system: It consists of-

Ovary- A pair of ovaries is situated in the abdominal cavity. Each ovary produces ovum (female gamete) each month
alternately. The process of release of ovum from ovary is called ovulation.
Ovi duct (fallopian tube)- They are thin and coiled muscular tube which join the uterus and the ovaries. The fusion of
male and female gametes takes place in the ovi duct.
Uterus- It is a broad, muscular chamber where development of fertilized egg takes place.

Fertilisation and development: The process of fusion of a sperm nucleus with the nucleus of ovum is called
fertilization. The fertilized egg is called zygote. It is the first cell of the new individual.
 After fertilization the zygote divides repeatedly and gives rise to a ball of cells called embryo.
 Embryo rolls down through the fallopian tube and reaches the uterus.
 The embryo attaches itself to the wall of the uterus. This is called implantation.
 At two months of stage the embryo starts resembling the human form and all the parts of the body can be
identified. This stage is called foetus.
 Foetus is attached to the uterus through placenta. Placenta is responsible for providing nutrient, oxygen and
removing waste.
 Complete development of foetus takes 280 days and after that birth of the baby takes place.

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)-It is a method in which ovum collected from a female’s body is allowed to fuse with
sperm in an external medium.
 The zygote is allowed to grow n vitro (i.e. glass) for about a week and then implanted in the uterus for further
development.
 A baby born of this technique is called ‘test tube baby’.

Internal fertilization-When fusion of male and female gametes takes place inside the female body is called internal
fertilization. Eg. Birds, reptiles, mammals etc.
External fertilization- In this process fusion of male and female gamete takes place outside the female’s body.
 In most of the aquatic animals such as bony fish, frogs release their gametes in water. The sperms swim to the
eggs and fertilise them.
 Eggs and sperms of aquatic animals are exposed to water movement, wind and rainfall. Other animals also feed
on them, so they produce large number of eggs and sperms to ensure fertilization of at least some of them.
Oviparous animals: Animals that lay eggs are known as oviparous animals.
Eg. Birds, reptiles such as lizards, crocodile, snakes etc.
Viviparous animals: Animals that give birth to young ones are called viviparous.
Eg. Humans, tiger, cat, dog, goats, cow etc.

Metamorphosis- The processes of transformation of a larva into an adult through drastic changes is called
metamorphosis.
 A frog passes through three stages during its development.
Egg tadpole (larva) Adult frog
 Butterflies and moth pass through four stages before winged adult is born.
Egg Caterpillar (larva) Pupa Adult moth

Asexual reproduction- In asexual reproduction organisms reproduce on their own without the help of another
individual. There is only single parent. There are many ways to carry out asexual reproduction
 Budding-Hydra reproduces through budding. A small bulb like projection called bud is formed on the parent
body. The bud gets mature and detached from the parent body and grows as an individual.
 Binary fission- Unicellular organisms like amoeba reproduce through binary fission. First the nucleus of the
parent cell divides into two daughter nuclei (Karyokinesis). This is followed by division of cytoplasm
(Cytokinesis) and parent cell divides into two daughter amoebae.
 Cloning is the process of producing identical organism from any other living part. Dolly was the sheep which
was born on 5th July 1996 through cloning.