reproductive system

• Human males are responsible for carrying and manufacturing the male reproductive cell called sperm
• Reproduction


  The sperm interacts and unites with the female reproductive cell to create life
• Testis or testicle


  An oval-shaped organ at the base of the male reproductive system, responsible for the production and storage of billions of sperm cells
• Testes

  • Contain 2-3 thin coiled tubes called seminiferous tubules where sperm cells develop and mature during meiosis
  • Produce the male hormone testosterone
• Scrotum


  A thin external pocket that houses the testes and assists in lowering their temperature for sperm cell generation
• Epididymis

  A small comma-shaped organ attached to the back of a testis, storing developing sperm that mature in about 9 - 12 weeks
• Vas deferens


  • A passageway for semen, transporting sperm cells to the urethra
  • long tube connected to one end of the epididymis
• Seminal vesicles


  • Accessory glands producing a sugar-rich fluid in semen for sperm energy
  • look like lumps of tubular knots attached behind the bladder.
• Prostate


  • Produces an alkaline fluid mixed with semen, encasing the urethra
  • a bulbous accessory gland beneath the bladder.
• Bulbourethral glands or Cowper's glands


  • Produce an alkaline fluid neutralizing urine acid in the urethra
  • tiny bulbous structures located at the base of the prostate and attached to the urethra
• Ejaculatory ducts


  • Short tubular structures opening into the urethra, allowing passage of semen during ejaculation
• Urethra


  • A muscular tube carrying semen from ejaculatory ducts to the outside of the male reproductive system
  • around 20 cm long, extending from the prostate gland to the external opening at the tip of the penis.
• Penis


  • Male sexual organ involved in sexual intercourse, with erectile tissue corpus cavernosum allowing erection when stimulated
  • Consists of shaft and glans
• Semen contains enzymes and proteins responsible for preserving the condition of the sperm during seminal discharge
• Shaft


  The body of the penis
• Glans


  The tip of the penis
• Foreskin


  Skin folds that cover the glans at the penile tip
• Spermatogenesis


  Generation of sperm cells inside the testes and the epididymis
• Sperm cells formed in the testes every day

  • 200 to 500 million
• Maturation of sperm cells

  Takes place inside the epididymis for about 72 to 74 days
• Man engages in intercourse with a woman

  Sperm cells can live inside the female reproductive tract for about 48 hours
• Ovum

  a female reproductive cell
• Egg cell

  a female reproductive cell
• Female reproductive system


  • Produces and stores the female reproductive cell called the ovum or egg cell
• Female sexual organs


  Receive the sperm cells of a male and serve as a receptacle for the development of a fertilized egg
• Egg cells


  • Approximately a couple of million
• Ovaries


  Two almond-shaped organs located on both sides of the female reproductive system
• Hormones produced by the ovaries

  • Estrogen
  • Progesterone
• Outer covering of each egg cell

  • Follicles
• The main body of the ovary consists of the primordial follicle which protects its structure.
• The empty follicles called corpus luteum produce progesterone
• Oogenesis, the formation of egg cells, also takes place within the follicles of the ovaries.
• Fallopian tubes


  • Connect the ovaries to the central part of the female reproductive system
  • Passageways for the egg cell
  • Process of fertilization commonly begins in one of two fallopian tubes
• Fimbriae


  • Long, thin, finger-like structures located next to the ovaries
• Uterus


  Hollow area at the center of the female reproductive system where a fertilized egg called a zygote develops into a fetus
• Uterus

  • Fundus
  • Cervix
• Fundus


  Bulbous protrusion located above the central part of the uterus
• Cervix


  Narrow tubular area below the uterus that opens into the vagina
• Vagina


  • Main female sexual organ involved in the process of mating
  • Passageway for menstrual flow and childbirth
• Hymen


  • Thin, mucous membrane covering the opening of the vagina in young females