Select all that apply. the principal advantages of asexual reproduction are

a: rapid rate

b: large variation

c: only one parent needed

d: genetically identical offspring

The correct answers are A and C.
When an individual is reproducing asexually, it means that there is no fusing of two parent cells and meiosis, but that the offspring is produced out of the cells of one parent. This means that the organism is not '' losing time'' by trying to find a suitable mate, which enables the populations to grow at a rapid rate.
However, the offspring are genetically identical to the parent, which means that there is very little genetic variation in the population which can lead to accumulation of harmful mutations and unresponsiveness to changes in the environment.