How are the reproductive cycles of a fungus and a pteridophyte similar? a.) both organisms produce haploid spores and exhibit diploid and haploid stages. b.) both organisms form fruiting bodies that produce diploid seeds. c.) both organisms exhibit a diploid stage and are only able to reproduce asexually. d.) both organisms reproduce sexually when two haploid hyphae fuse.

The answer is; A

In pteridophytes, the sporophytes (of the haploid stage) produce spores. The diploid stage in pteridophytes may occur when tow spores fuse and develop into a prothallus (diploid stage of the pteridophytes).

Fungo too produces spores by the sporangiophores (haploid stage). Occasionally, two horizontal hyphae between two species of fungi, may fuse at the tips and form a zygote through karyogamy and plasmogamy.

genetic variation can be caused by mutation (which can create entirely new alleles in a population), random mating, random fertilization, and recombination between homologous chromosomes during meiosis (which reshuffles alleles within an organism's offspring).