A split is a breakup or separation that is generated by a disagreement, a divergence , a trauma or some other type of conflict. Depending on the context, this term from the Latin word scissio has different meanings.
When a society breaks up and its members distance themselves, a split occurs. Suppose three people join forces to found a company and, a few years later, one of them decides to continue on their own. In this way, a split of the company occurs and a new venture emerges as a detachment from it.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ), on the other hand, was a state that existed for almost seven decades, merging several republics. In 1991 , with the split of said agreement, new independent nations emerged, such as Ukraine and Lithuania , among others.
In the field of medicine , the removal or ablation of an organ or tissue is called excision. Generally these excisions are carried out through surgical intervention or through the application of chemical or physical means.
Cleavage is also the name given to a form of asexual animal division . Through this process, an individual fragments into two or more units, each capable of rebuilding and developing as a complete new organism. Starfish , to name one example, are animals that can reproduce through a cleavage process.
Although from the point of view of our species it may seem impossible, there are several species of living beings capable of reproducing asexually, a phenomenon that begins with one or more cells and goes through miotic processes (cell division into equal parts of the characteristic DNA). ) until the emergence of a new individual identical to its "parent" in genetic terms.
The starfish is one of the most popular aquatic animals, and that makes it ideal as a reference to discuss the issue of splitting. Its body is flattened and has a minimum of five arms. It belongs to the class Asteroidea (which is why it is also known as an asteroid ) which is made up of an average of nineteen hundred species , distributed throughout the world. It is worth mentioning that the starfish is also capable of reproducing sexually.
Splitting is also known as fragmentation . This process of asexual reproduction begins once the division has been completed or before, and in this way it is possible to speak of architomy or paratomy , respectively. Architomy can occur due to force majeure, such as an accident that leaves the individual mutilated, while paratomy is carried out voluntarily and spontaneously.
In addition to starfish, other animals that perform architomy are ophiuras . They are also known as ophiuroids , and it is a class with pentaradial symmetry (they have five identical parts around their mouth) and an appearance very similar to the first ones.
In some cases, the architomy is done in a transverse direction, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the body; This can also be seen in planarians and earthworms, which can begin the regeneration of a new individual by dividing their body into various pieces.
Among the examples of paratomy, marine polychaete worms stand out, which are capable of altering the posterior parts of their body so that they become new individuals that remain attached to the first.
Beta cleavage , finally, is a type of cracking or chemical cracking (a process that leads to the breakdown of the molecules of a compound, generating simpler elements).