Animals
Animals like sponges and coral colonies naturally fragment and reproduce. Many species of annelids and flat worms reproduce by this method.
When the splitting occurs due to specific developmental changes, the terms architomy, paratomy and budding are used. In architomy the animal splits at a particular point and the two fragments regenerate the missing organs and tissues. The splitting is not preceded by the development of the tissues to be lost. Prior to splitting, the animal may develop furrows at the zone of splitting. The headless fragment has to regenerate a complete head.
In paratomy, the split occurs perpendicular to the antero-posterior axis and the split is preceded by the "pregeneration" of the anterior structures in the posterior portion. The two organisms have their body axis aligned i.e. they develop in a head to tail fashion. Budding can be considered to be similar to paratomy except that the body axes need not be aligned: the new head may grow toward the side or even point backward (e.g. Convolutriloba retrogemma an acoel flat worm).
Read more about this topic: Fragmentation (reproduction)
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“Error has made animals into men; is truth in a position to make men into animals again?”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“About sacrifice and the offering of sacrifices, sacrificial animals think quite differently from those who look on: but they have never been allowed to have their say.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)