To reproduce, female elephants produce eggs and male elephants produce sperm. Offspring are produced by the fusion of an egg with a sperm cell. Which statement is true about the offspring? A. The offspring are genetically distinct from the parents because the egg and sperm are both diploid. B. The offspring are genetically identical to the parents because they are produced by sexual reproduction. C. The offspring are genetically distinct from the parents because they are produced by sexual reproduction. D. The offspring are genetically identical to the parents because the egg and sperm are both diploid.

Answer: C. The offspring are genetically distinct from the parents because they are produced by sexual reproduction.

Explanation: Sexual reproduction occurs through the fusion between an egg and a sperm cell. Each of these cells has a single set of chromosomes and thus are haploid. As a result, the offspring will be a diploid organism with half of its genetic material coming from the mother and half from the father.

Because the offspring is a combination of the parental genetic information, its own genetic setup will be thus unique compared with that of each parent.

The type of reproduction in which the offspring is identical to the parent is called asexual reproduction. Here, one organism produces a genetic copy of itself, without exchanging genetic information with another organism through sex.

The right answer is C. The offspring are genetically distinct ... by sexual reproduction.

Sexual reproduction, as opposed to asexual reproduction, indicates that the propagation of a species involves male and female gametes. It is the main method of reproduction of multicellular organisms.

In the first stage of sexual reproduction, meiosis, the number of chromosomes is reduced from a diploid number (2n) to a haploid number (n). During fertilization ("fertilization"), haploid gametes come together to form a diploid zygote and restore the initial number of chromosomes (2n).