Offspring

This article is about a biological term. For the punk rock band, see The Offspring. For other uses, see Offspring (disambiguation).

A frog in frogspawn.

In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.

Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way. This can refer to a set of simultaneous offspring, such as the chicks hatched from one clutch of eggs, or to all the offspring, as with the honeybee.

Human offspring (descendants) are referred to as children (without reference to age, thus one can refer to a parent's "minor children" or "adult children" or "infant children" or "teenage children"); male children are sons and female children are daughters. See kinship and descent. Offspring can occur after mating or after Artificial Insemination.

The sex of the offspring in determined by chromosomes, for example human males have an X and a Y chromosome, while human females have two X chromosomes.

A hybrid is the offspring of two different species, for example a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.

Different Names for Offspring

There are many different names for offspring, some animals share the same name of their offspring. Some offspring are called by multiple names. Gender also plays a role in some names for offspring. For example, the general name for the offspring of a horse is a foal, but if the offspring is a male it is known as a colt, if the offspring is a female it is known as a filly.

List of Offspring

The offspring of an alligator is hatchling. The offspring of an alpaca is a cria. The offspring of an antelope is a calf. The offspring of an ape is a baby. The offspring of an armadillo is a pup. The offspring of a baboon is an infant. The offspring of a badger is a kit or a cub. The offspring of a bat is a pup. The offspring of a bear is a cub. The offspring of a beaver is a pup or a kitten. The offspring of a bee is a larva. The offspring of a bird is a hatchling or chick. The offspring of a bison is a calf. The offspring of a boar is a piglet, shoat, or farrow. The offspring of a butterfly is a caterpillar, larva, or pupa. The offspring of a camel is a calf. The offspring of a cat is a kitten. The offspring of cattle is a calf. The offspring of a cheetah is a cub. The offspring of a chicken is a chick, a pullet(female), or a cockrell (male). The offspring of a clam is a larva. The offspring of cockroach is a nymph. The offspring of a codfish is codling, hake, sprag, or sprat. The offspring of a coyote is a pup or whelp. The offspring of a crane is a chick. The offspring of a crow is a chick. The offspring of a deer is a fawn. The offspring of a dinosaur is a hatchling or a juevenile. The offspring of a dog is a pup. The offspring of a dolphin is a pup or calf. The offspring of a donkey is a colt or foal. The offspring of a dove is a squab or chick. The offspring of a duck is a duckling. The offspring of an eagle is a eaglet or a fledgling.

See also

• Bateman's principle
• Clutch size
• Infanticide (zoology)
• Litter
• Parent-offspring conflict
• Parental investment