It's not just squids. Octopi, basically any kind of mollusk, basically any fish that lays eggs, turtles, coral of course, lobsters, crabs, jellyfish, etc. Moving onto land we've got spiders, flies, various beetles, butterflies and mouths, basically any insect that isn't communal, and while most reptiles don't do it to quite the degree of other creatures they do tend to lay a crap ton of eggs and basically hope for the best. All and all I'd say the having tons of babies at once approach is basically the most popular and successful multicellular reproductive approach. Not only does it remove the need for parenting it takes genetic diversity even within a single generation to it's maximum while virtually guaranteeing only the most suitable genes survive. (While also making sure the genes can in fact survive in the first place.) It truly is the best possible way to have babies.
|