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The process of meiosis in females occurs during oogenesis, and differs from the typical meiosis in that it features a long period of meiotic arrest known as the dictyate stage and lacks the assistance of centrosomes. [53] [54] In males, meiosis occurs during spermatogenesis in the seminiferous tubules of the testicles.
In the XY sex-determination system, the female-provided ovum contributes an X chromosome and the male-provided sperm contributes either an X chromosome or a Y chromosome, resulting in female (XX) or male (XY) offspring, respectively. Hormone levels in the male parent affect the sex ratio of sperm in humans. [25]
The human brain. Differences in male and female brain size are relative to body size. [83] Early research into the differences between male and female brains showed that male brains are, on average, larger than female brains. This research was frequently cited to support the assertion that women are less intelligent than men.
A female produces an ovum with a full set (two sets of genes) provided solely by the mother. Thus, a male is not needed to provide sperm to fertilize the egg. This form of asexual reproduction is thought in some cases to be a serious threat to biodiversity for the subsequent lack of gene variation and potentially decreased fitness of the offspring.
Female mammals and birds are born possessing all the oocytes needed for future ovulations, and these oocytes are arrested at the prophase I stage of meiosis. [26] In humans, as an example, oocytes are formed between three and four months of gestation within the fetus and are therefore present at birth.
In both males and females, the sex organs consist of two structures: the internal genitalia and the external genitalia. In males, the gonads are the testicles and in females, they are the ovaries . These are the organs that produce gametes (egg and sperm), the reproductive cells that will eventually meet to form the fertilized egg ( zygote ).
Animals have life cycles with a single diploid multicellular phase that produces haploid gametes directly by meiosis. Male gametes are called sperm, and female gametes are called eggs or ova. In animals, fertilization of the ovum by a sperm results in the formation of a diploid zygote that develops by repeated mitotic divisions into a diploid ...
Females can produce full clones of themselves through a modification of the normal meiosis process used to produce haploid egg cells for sexual reproduction. The female's germ cells undergo a process of premeiotic genome doubling, or endoreduplication, so that two consecutive division cycles in the process of meiosis result in a diploid, rather than haploid, genome.