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The scrotum regulates the temperature of the testicles and maintains it at 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), i.e. two or three degrees below the body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit).
Because the testes are located outside the body, the smooth tissue of the scrotum can move them closer or further away from the body. [5] The temperature of the testes is maintained at 34.4 °C, a little below body temperature, as temperatures above 36.7 °C impede spermatogenesis.
The cremaster muscle's function is to raise and lower the testes in order to regulate scrotal temperature for optimal spermatogenesis and survival of the resultant spermatozoa. The ideal temperature for human sperm development is around 34 degrees Celsius, which is about 4 degrees Celsius below body temperature. [3]
During times of lower temperatures, the cremaster muscle contracts and pulls the scrotum closer to the body, while the dartos fascia gives it a wrinkled appearance; when the temperature increases, the cremaster and dartos fascia relax to bring down the scrotum away from the body and remove the wrinkles respectively.
In the scrotum, the dartos fascia acts to regulate the temperature of the testicles, which promotes spermatogenesis. It does this by expanding or contracting to wrinkle the scrotal skin. Contraction reduces the surface area available for heat loss, thus reducing heat loss and warming the testicles.
The muscles around a male's scrotum involuntarily tighten if the man's body temperature drops, and they loosen, allowing the testes to hang, if the body temperature rises. This is the body's way of keeping the sperm at an ideal temperature. [citation needed] This means that sperm production can be disrupted with increased temperature. [1]
The location [Testes/Scrotum] is specifically important as the process of spermatogenesis requires a lower temperature to produce viable sperm, specifically 1°-8 °C lower than normal body temperature of 37 °C (98.6 °F). [6]
Since the scrotum, where the testes is present, is situated outside the body cavity, it provides a temperature about 3 °C below normal body temperature. In females, gametogenesis is known as oogenesis ; this occurs in the ovarian follicles of the ovaries.