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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
Hence, the gonads are usually indicative of the biological sex. This direct correlation allows scientists and medical professionals the option to determine biological sex using gonads. When the purpose is to distinguish male vs. female in animals, this is sexing .
The primary sex organs are the gonads, a pair of internal sex organs, which diverge into testicles following male development or into ovaries following female development. [8] As primary sex organs, gonads generate reproductive gametes containing inheritable DNA. They also produce most of the primary hormones that affect sexual development, and ...
Differentiation between the sexes of the sex organs occurs throughout embryological, fetal and later life. 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.
In invertebrates and plants, hermaphrodites (which have both male and female reproductive organs either at the same time or during their life cycle) are common, and in many cases, the norm. In other varieties of multicellular life (e.g. the fungi division, Basidiomycota ), sexual characteristics can be much more complex, and may involve many ...
The first appearance of the gonad is essentially the same in the two sexes, and consists in a thickening of the mesothelial layer of the peritoneum. The thick plate of epithelium extends deeply, pushing before it the mesoderm and forming a distinct projection. This is termed the gonadal ridge. The gonadal ridge, in turn, develops into a gonad.
Sexual differentiation is the process of development of the sex differences between males and females from an undifferentiated zygote. [1] [2] Sex determination is often distinct from sex differentiation; sex determination is the designation for the development stage towards either male or female, while sex differentiation is the pathway towards the development of the phenotype.
Chart of the generalized male reproductive system embryionic The genetic sex is determined by whether a Y bearing or next bearing sperm fertilizes the open; the presence or absence of a Y chromosome in turn determines whether the gonads of the embryo will be testes or ovaries; and the presence or absence of testes, finally, determines whether ...