BIO 12D Chapter Notes - Chapter 28: Pubic Hair, Sexual Intercourse, Reproductive System
15 May 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Main function: propagation of the species: to achieve this goal, must ensure sexual maturation, produce gametes (n). Primary sex organs called gonads: ovaries in females, testes in males. Produce gametes which unite to form a new individual: oocytes, sperm. Gonads produce large amounts of sex hormones which affect maturation, development, and changes in the activity of the reproductive system organs: estrogen and progesterone in the female, androgens (esp. testosterone) in the male. Both have accessory reproductive organs: duct systems, carry gametes away from the gonads toward the site of fertilization in females to the outside of the body in males. Fertilization occurs when male and female gametes meet: copulation, coitus, sexual intercourse, restores the diploid number (2n) At puberty, external sex characteristics become more prominent: breast enlargement in females, fat distribution patterns in both sexes, pubic hair in both sexes, reproductive organs become fully functional, gametes mature, gonads secrete sex hormones.
