Gamete

Uncommon card · No. 108274

A gamete ( GAM-eet ), reproductive cell, or sex cell, is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. The name gamete was introduced by the German cytologist Eduard Strasburger in 1878. The type of gamete an organism produces determines its sex and sets the basis for the sexual roles and sexual selection. Female gametes are called ova or egg cells, and male gametes are called sperm. In the majority of species, the gametes are of different sizes, a condition known as anisogamy or heterogamy that applies to humans and other mammals. For example, the human ovum has approximately 100,000 times the volume of a single human sperm cell. Sperm cells are motile due to the presence of a tail-shaped structure, the flagellum, that provides propulsion. In contrast, each egg cell or ovum is comparably large and non-motile. Gametes of both mating individuals can also be the same size and shape, a condition known as isogamy. Oogenesis, the...

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