life cycle
Eukaryotes have three different versions of the sexual life cycle : a haploid life cycle, a diploid life cycle, and a life cycle known as the alternation of generations Figure below . A life cycle is the span in the life of an organism from one generation to the next. All species that reproduce sexually follow a basic pattern, alternating between haploid and diploid chromosome numbers. The sexual life cycle depends on when meiosis occurs and the type of cell that undergoes meiosis.