This is what you should have learned in high school about reproduction,
from Jim Buckley, Edwards-Knox Central School, Russell, New York. Try Mr.
Buckley's quiz
on human reproduction for his high school students.
If you don't have your textbook, here is the Reproductive
System
from the On-line Biology book.
to learn more about the human Reproductive System, go to HUMAN ANATOMY On-Line.
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION in INVERTEBRATES
1. FISSION
- protists [Fig. 39.1a]
- longitudinal fission in planarians [Fig. 39.1b];
- constrictions in annelids [Fig. 39.1c]
2. BUDDING
3. FRAGMENTATION
- flatworms, echinoderms, sponges [Fig. 39.1e]
4. PARTHENOGENESIS
- certain rotifers, flatworms, aphids, fish, lizards
ADVANTAGES OF ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
DISADVANTAGES OF ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
External Fertilization
Internal Fertilization
- copulation; intromittent organ; internal development [Fig. 39.2]
- hermaphrodite (monoecious)
Reproductive Timing
PATTERNS OF VERTEBRATE REPRODUCTION
- fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
Human Reproduction
When you are finished with this section, test your knowledge with the
Human Reproduction Problem Set from the University of Arizona Biology
Project
HUMAN MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM [Fig. 39.4]
- male
reproductive organs from Berkeley High School
- testes [Fig. 39.5]: produce sperm and testosterone
- scrotum
- conducting tubes
- accessory glands
- penis
PRODUCTION OF SPERM IN TESTES [Fig. 39.5]
- seminiferous tubules: site of spermatogenesis
Path of Sperm [Fig. 39.4]
- epididymis to vas deferens to ejaculatory duct to urethra in penis
Penis
- cavernous bodies (corposa cavernosa)
Semen Production
- seminal vessicles
- prostate gland
- Cowper's glands (bulbourethral glands)
MALE HORMONAL CONTROL [Fig. 39.6; Table 39.1]
androgens: male sex hormones
- hypothalamus gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH); stimulates anterior pituitary
- anterior pituitary LH (controls production of testosterone in males) and FSH
(promotes spermatogenesis in males w/testosterone)
- testes: interstitial cells stimulated to produce male sexual hormone testosterone;
influences male sexual characters - beard, voice, bone growth, sperm production (w/FSH)
HUMAN FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM [Fig. 39.7]
- Female
Reproductive Organs from Berkeley High
- female gonads
- ovaries [Fig. 39.8]: produce ova and hormones
- Accessory organs
- oviducts: uterine tube (fallopian tube) [Fig. 39.9]
- uterus (womb) [Fig. 39.10]
- cervix
- vagina
- external genital structures
- clitoris
- labia minora
- labia majora
- vulva
HORMONAL REGULATION of REPRODUCTION [Table 39.2, 39.3]
Ovarian Cycle [Fig. 39.7]
- Uterine (Menstrual) Cycle [Fig. 39.11, 39.12]
- A. first day: menstruation: shedding of endometrium + blood, tissue, other fluids
- B. 14th day: ovulation
- 1. Preovulatory Phase
- FSH (from pituitary) stimulates follicle to develop
- follicle: ova plus surrounding cells - makes estrogen
- estrogen: stimulates growth of endometrium
- mid-cycle
surge of estrogen stimulates hypothalamus to stimulate pituitary to secrete LH
which causes
maturation of follicle, ovulation, & development of corpus luteum
- ovulation: stimulated by FSH and LH from anterior pituitary
- follicle: produces ovum
- corpus luteum (yellow body): remains in ovary after ovulation; controlled by
LH
- ovum
- Postovulatory Phase
- corpus luteum releases estrogen & progesterone; inhibits LH and FSH production;
stimulates thickening of endometrium (esp. progesterone)
- egg not fertilized no implantation:
- corpus luteum degenerates (as a result of fall of LH & FSH)
- estrogen and progesterone decrease
- arteries in uterine wall constrict; cells die causing menstruation
- return to preovulatory phase; pituitary secretes FSH again
- Fertilization [fig 39.13-15]
- Introduction to the Birth Control Problem Set from the University of
Arizona Biology Project
- occurs in upper uterine wall from one sperm only
- embryo implants in uterine wall formation of placenta
- placenta:
- secretes human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) which causes the
- corpus luteum to continue to function
- LH secretion ceases
- progesterone secreted by corpus luteum (as well as
estrogen) prevents menstruation
- after 3rd month corpus luteum degenerates, but placenta
secretes estrogen & progesterone.
Birth Control - Contraception
- Protecting Against Unintended Pregnancy: A Guide to Contraceptive Choices
from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration web site offers information about
the many methods of contraception.
- How much do you know about birth control? Take the Birth
Control Problem Set from the The Biology Project, University of Arizona
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