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The life history of a species defines the sequence of events that occur throughout the course of its existence, such as how resources are allocated for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. The life table of an organism is influenced by life history features. The environment and natural selection shape a species' life history, which is genetically defined.

• Parental care is not possible for species with a large number of offspring since they lack the energy to care for them.
• The life cycles of many plant and animal species are marked by mortality after the first reproduction. This is referred to as semelparity.
• Organisms that have a small number of offspring invest a lot of energy in each one and often provide a lot of parental care.

Fecundity refers to an individual's reproductive capabilities within a population. In other words, fecundity refers to the number of offspring that might be produced if an individual has as many offspring as feasible while also continuing the reproductive cycle as soon as possible after the offspring are born. Fecundity in animals is inversely proportional to the amount of parental care given to each offspring.