HUMAN REPRODUCTION

EPIDIDYMIS

tube that stores sperm

EMBYRO

A fertilized egg that has begun dividing into more cells

MARSUPIAL

A mammal, such as a koala, kangaroo, or opossum, whose young complete their embryonic development inside a maternal pouch called the marsupium.

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

A reproductive process that involves two parents that combine their genetic material to produce a new organism, which differs from both parents

PLACENTA

A structure that allows an embryo to be nourished with the mother's blood supply

MONOTREME

Egg laying mammals

OVARIES

Egg-producing organs within the female reproductive system.

ZYGOTE

Fertilized egg

UTERUS

Hollow muscular organ in pelvic cavity where embryo is nourished and develops before birth

FETUS

In humans, the term for the developing organism between the embryonic stage and birth.

PENIS

Male reproductive organ

TESTES

Male reproductive organ that is the site for testosterone and sperm production

FERTILIZATION

Male sex cell (sperm) unites with female sex cell into one cell (46 chromosomes total with 23 from each gamete).

PLACENTAL MAMMAL

Mammal whose young develops inside the female uterus until it forms and ready to be born; has a placenta - a saclike organ- which supplies the embryo with food and oxygen and removes wastes.

VAGINA

Muscular passageway leading to the outside of the body. Called the birth canal, it extends from the vaginal opening to the cervix.

ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

Process by which a single parent reproduces by itself

EXTERNAL FERTILIZATION

The process by which the female lays eggs and the male fertilizes them once they are outside of the female

FALLOPIAN TUBES

Tubes which carry eggs from ovaries to uterus and which provides the place where fertilization occurs

IDENTICAL

Twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms

FRATERNAL

Twins who develop from separate eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment

MENSTRUATION

monthly changes that prepare a woman's body for pregnancy, discharge of blood and tissues from uterus

IMPLANTATION

process where a fertilized egg becomes implanted in the lining of the uterus

INTERNAL FERTILIZATION

the process by which the male places the sperm inside the females's body, where the eggs are fertilized