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Significantly, the low intra-abdominal sperm storage capacity of the echidna epididymis [2] [18] helped inform the role of the epididymis as a prime mover in the evolution of descended testes in mammals whereby lower extra-gonadal temperatures within the scrotal cauda epididymis reduces oxidative respiration of sperm, which enhances oxygen ...
The epididymis (/ ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɪ d ɪ m ɪ s /; pl.: epididymides / ɛ p ɪ d ɪ ˈ d ɪ m ə d iː z / or / ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɪ d ə m ɪ d iː z /) is an elongated tubular genital organ attached to the posterior side of each one of the two male reproductive glands, the testicles.
The mechanism by which sperm storage in the epididymis is enhanced at lower extra-abdominal temperatures has been shown to be a consequence of the biophysics of oxygen availability and sperm oxidative respiration. [12] The cauda epididymis, where sperm are stored, can be up to 7 °C below abdominal temperatures.
In humans and other large mammals, there are approximately 15 to 20 efferent ducts, which also occupy nearly one-third of the head of the epididymis. b) single entry, as seen in most small animals such as rodents, whereby the 3–6 ductules merge into a single small ductule before entering the epididymis. [citation needed]
The epididymis is a long whitish mass of tightly coiled tube. The sperm that are produced in the seminiferous tubules flow into the epididymis. During passage via the epididymis, the sperm undergo maturation and are concentrated by the action of ion channels located on the apical membrane of the epididymis. [2]
The rete testis does modify the luminal fluids with a limited amount of secretion and reabsorption, but their primary function is to mix and transport the sperm into the efferent ductules, where the major function is reabsorption of about 95% of the fluid, which increases the sperm concentration prior to entering the epididymis.
The flowers of flowering plants produce pollen and egg cells, but the sex organs themselves are inside the gametophytes within the pollen and the ovule. [6] Coniferous plants likewise produce their sexually reproductive structures within the gametophytes contained within the cones and pollen. The cones and pollen are not themselves sexual organs.
A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland [1] is a mixed gland and sex organ that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. [2] The male gonad, the testicle, produces sperm in the form of spermatozoa. The female gonad, the ovary, produces egg cells