Reproduction
The importance of reproductive success is to continue one's species by creating fertile offspring; an individual could make an offspring of the same species and that offspring could make another offspring as well and this occurrence happens continuously. Although species go extinct when parents create sterile offspring; offspring that cannot reproduce. Another factor of extinction is not adapting fast enough to their environments, even if the offspring are fertile they would pass down the genes that will not allow them to survive in that environment. There are two types of reproduction: asexual and sexual. Asexual reproductions requires only one parent to create an offspring. However this offspring obtains the same exact DNA as their parent, this is called a clone. Sexual reproduction requires two parents and each parent gives half of their DNA to the offspring, not a clone.
There are five types of asexual reproduction: mitosis, binary fission, vegetative propagation, budding and fragmentation. Mitosis is DNA replication that goes through many phases such as, prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase that result in two daughter cells that repeat these phases again and again. Binary fission is cell division that prokaryotes go through. Budding is when the offspring branches and grows from the parent. Fragmentation is a piece of an organism forms a new organism. Meiosis is the only type of sexual reproduction, which is cell division that results in four haploid cells (gametes).
Mitosis
Meiosis
Tasmanian devils males compete with each other to get the female and the female mates with the most dominant male. Tasmanian devils are sexually mature when they are two years of age and females are fertile once a year. Pregnant Female Tasmanian devils carry about 20-30 babies for 21 days of gestation. The babies are raisin sized shaped and are born deaf and blind but manage to climb up into their mother's pouch. Tasmanian devils are mammal marsupials, which means a pouch is apart of the mammal's reproduction process. The female tasmanian devil only has four nipples for feeding, so unfortunately only a few of the babies survive. The babies who do survive latch on to the mother's nipples and stay there for four months. Then the mother leaves them to go out and search for prey. After six months the babies go out on there own and live up to eight years if they don't get killed by adult tasmanian devils or predators.