While this topic will look at sexual reproduction at a cellular level, you may be surprised to find that some animals reproduce asexually. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction that occurs without the fertilization of an embryo. Animals such as the black tip shark, hammerhead shark, boa constrictor, Komodo dragon, and Burmese python, all have the ability to undergo asexual reproduction.

How does parthenogenesis occur? Parthenogenesis can occur two different ways. In some species, egg cells do not undergo meiosis before dividing. These offspring will become all female and exact clones of their mother. In other species, two eggs fuse together after meiosis.