How big is a sperm
We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. The bigger the animal, the smaller the sperm. Sounds paradoxical? According to a new study, it makes perfect sense.


Selfish sperm genes 'poison' the competition for the win
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Giant Squid's Basketball-Size Eyes Have Sperm Whale Vision
Sperm morphology — the size and shape of sperm — is one factor that's examined as part of a semen analysis to evaluate male infertility. Sperm morphology results are reported as the percentage of sperm that appear normal when semen is viewed under a microscope. Normal sperm have an oval head with a long tail. Abnormal sperm have head or tail defects — such as a large or misshapen head or a crooked or double tail. These defects might affect the ability of the sperm to reach and penetrate an egg. However, having a large percentage of misshapen sperm isn't uncommon.



Difference Between Sperm and Egg
In the life-or-death scramble to fertilize an egg, not all sperm are alike. The researchers conducted experiments with mouse sperm to learn more about the properties of the t-haplotype, a group of genetic alleles that are known to appear on Chromosome 17 of mice. Comparing the movement of mouse sperm with the t-haplotype against sperm without it, the researchers, led by first author Alexandra Amaral of MPIMG, definitively demonstrated the difference t-haplotype makes. Sperm with the gene factor progressed quickly forward, while "normal" sperm didn't exhibit the same degree of progress. While most genes operate cooperatively with others, some don't.





Sperm is the male reproductive cell , or gamete , in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction forms in which there is a larger, "female" reproductive cell and a smaller, "male" one. Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum , which are known as spermatozoa , while some red algae and fungi produce non-motile sperm cells, known as spermatia. Sperm cells form during the process known as spermatogenesis , which in amniotes reptiles and mammals takes place in the seminiferous tubules of the testes. The spermatocytes then undergo meiosis , reducing their chromosome number by half, which produces spermatids. The spermatids then mature and, in animals, construct a tail, or flagellum, which gives rise to the mature, motile sperm cell.
