{{Short description|Form of asexual reproduction in animals}} '''Paratomy''' is a form of asexual reproduction in animals where the organism splits in a plane perpendicular to the antero-posterior axis and the split is preceded by the "pregeneration" of the anterior structures in the posterior portion. The developing 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).<ref name=Akesson2001>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1046/j.1463-6395.2001.00084.x| issn = 1463-6395| volume = 82| issue = 3| pages = 231–239| last = Åkesson| first = Bertil| author2 = Robert Gschwentner| author3 = Jan Hendelberg| author4 = Peter Ladurner| author5 = Johann Müller| author6 = Reinhard Rieger| title = Fission in ''Convolutriloba longifissura'': asexual reproduction in acoelous turbellarians revisited| journal = Acta Zoologica| accessdate = 2011-07-13| date = 2001-12-01| url = http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~c719135/pdf/Akesson-Gschwentner-2001.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105428/http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~c719135/pdf/Akesson-Gschwentner-2001.pdf| archive-date = 2016-03-04| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1002/bdrc.20135| pmid = 19067421| issn = 1542-9768| volume = 84| issue = 4| pages = 257–264| last = Egger| first = Bernhard| title = Regeneration: rewarding, but potentially risky| journal = Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews| accessdate = 2011-07-13| date = December 2008| url = http://www.uibk.ac.at/zoology/staff/egger/images/egger-regeneration-review-2008.pdf| archive-date = 2011-08-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110811070431/http://www.uibk.ac.at/zoology/staff/egger/images/egger-regeneration-review-2008.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref> In animals that undergo fast paratomy a chain of zooids packed in a head to tail formation may develop. Many oligochaete annelids,<ref name=Herlant1950>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/1538737| pmid = 14791418| issn = 0006-3185| volume = 99| issue = 2| pages = 173–180| last = Herlant-Meewis| first = Henriette| title = Cyst-Formation in Aeolosoma Hemprichi (Ehr)| journal = Biological Bulletin| date = 1950-10-01| jstor = 1538737| url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/33169}}</ref> acoelous turbellarians,<ref name=Akesson2001/> echinoderm larvae<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/1542036| issn = 0006-3185| volume = 186| issue = 1| pages = 62–71| last = Jaeckle| first = William B.| title = Multiple Modes of Asexual Reproduction by Tropical and Subtropical Sea Star Larvae: An Unusual Adaptation for Genet Dispersal and Survival| journal = Biological Bulletin| date = 1994-02-01| jstor = 1542036| url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/2897| pmid = 29283296}}</ref> and coelenterates<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/3283338| pmid = 7905920| issn = 0022-3395| volume = 80| issue = 1| pages = 1–22| last = Raikova| first = Ekaterina V.| title = Life Cycle, Cytology, and Morphology of Polypodium hydriforme, a Coelenterate Parasite of the Eggs of Acipenseriform Fishes| journal = The Journal of Parasitology| date = 1994-02-01| jstor = 3283338}}</ref> reproduce by this method.
==See also== * {{annotated link|Autotomy}} * {{annotated link|Architomy}}
==External resources== This paper has a detailed description of the changes during paratomy.<ref name=Herlant1950/>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Reproduction