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Reproduction by special tissues without fertilization. Examples include parthenogenesis in animals (in which a new individual develops from an unfertilized egg) and apogamy in plants (in which the generating tissue may be either the gametophyte or the sporophyte). Apomixis provides for the preservation of traits favourable to individual survival, but it eliminates the longer-term evolutionary advantage of genetic contribution from two parents.
This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on apomixis, visit Britannica.com.