Reproductive system Flashcards
Primary Reproductive Organs
- The primary reproductive organs produce gametes
- Male: testes
- Produce sperm
- Female: ovaries
- Produce oocytes (eggs)
Accessory Reproductive Organs Male
- Epididymis
- Ductus deferens
- Seminal vesicle
- Ejaculatory duct
- Prostate
- Bulbourethral gland
- Urethra
- Penis
Accessory Reproductive Organs Female
- Vulva
- Vagina
- Uterus
- Uterine tube
Sperm Production
Sperm production
* = spermatogenesis
* Optimal sperm production occurs at about 93 F
* Scrotum (= pouch) is outside the body; contains
- Testis: sperm production
- Epididymis: sperm storage and maturation
Temperature Control of Testes
- Two muscles control placement of scrotum:
- Dartos muscle
– Smooth muscle that wrinkles scrotal skin to
increase thickness for warmth - Cremastor muscle
– Bands of skeletal muscle that elevates testes for warmth - Pampiniform plexus
- Venous network that absorbs heat from arterial blood supply to testis
Testicular Descent
- The testes descends through the inguinal canal
- This occurs throughout pregnancy and ends shortly before birth
What is the Scrotum?
- The testis is divided into multiple lobules
- Each lobule contains one to four
seminiferous tubules which produce sperm - Rete (= network of) testis
- Pathway for sperm from seminiferous tubules
to epididymis
What is Spermatogenesis?
- Spermatogenesis = sperm formation
- Sperm are produced continually within
seminiferous tubules - Approx. 400 million per day
- Sperm will finish maturation in epididymis
Passageway of Sperm
- With ejaculation
- Sperm travels from epididymis to ductus deferens
- Ductus deferens is in the spermatic cord (a
tube of fascia that contains blood vessels,
nerves, and ductus deferens) - Approx. 18 inches long
- Enters abdominal cavity through inguinal canal
Components of the Male Urethra?
Has three segments:
* Prostatic urethra: passes through prostate gland
* Membranous/intermediate part of the urethra: passes through pelvic floor
* Spongy urethra: passes through penile tissue
* Urethra ends at external urethral orifice
Components of Penis
Made of erectile tissue
* Smooth muscle and connective tissue surrounded by dense CT
* Vascular spaces fill with blood
* Corpus cavernosum:
- Paired, primary erectile bodies
* Corpus spongiosum:
- Keeps urethra open during ejaculation
Components of the vulva?
The vulva = external genitalia
* Labia majora = outer folds
* Labia minora = inner folds
* Clitoris = erectile tissue
- Homologous to the penis
- Swells with blood during sexual stimulation
Internal Female Reproductive Organs
- An oocyte is released from the ovary into the pelvic cavity
- Opening of uterine tube in close proximity to capture released oocyte
What is the Uterine Tube?
- An accessory organ
- Carries oocyte from ovary to uterus
- Site of fertilization
- Lined with ciliated columnar epithelium
- Fimbriae
- Ciliated edges of uterine tube that create a current to draw oocyte up into tube
- Egg moves through uterine tube with the assistance of cilia and smooth muscle contractions
Components of the Uterus?
- Accessory reproductive organ
- Site of implantation of fertilized embryo
- Also site of embryonic development
- Sits on top of the urinary bladder
- Regions
- Fundus
- Body
- Cervix
