Abstract
The gametes of eutherian mammals present some fundamental enigmas in regard to their structure and behaviour that have not been solved by a focus on the Eutheria alone. Although the evidence is limited still, some clues are suggested in comparison with representative American and Australian marsupials, whose gametes have undergone parallel, although sometimes quite different, evolutionary changes to those of eutherian mammals. The contrasts between them illuminate basic questions about the functions of the epididymis and sperm capacitation, about sperm numbers and sperm production, about the function of the cumulus oophorus and the configuration of the Fallopian tube and, not least, about gamete design and its bearing on the mechanisms by which spermatozoa penetrate the egg coat.
Subject
Developmental Biology,Endocrinology,Genetics,Molecular Biology,Animal Science and Zoology,Reproductive Medicine,Biotechnology
Cited by
32 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献