The placenta (from Greek plakuos, flat cake) is an organ created from the zygote that links two individuals, the mother and the fetus. Throughout the pregnancy, placental mass maintains a dynamic relationship with the weight of developing fetus. The...

The discovery of the mammalian ovum brought the realization that human reproduction occurred in the same way as did that of other animals. In the second half of the nineteenth century, microscopic techniques improved enough to allow scientists to...

EGG. The egg has aroused feelings of wonder in cultures all over the world. Its smooth, elliptical shell conceals the mystery of new life in formation. The sight of an egg hatching and a young creature bursting out from an apparently lifeless object...

The egg, or ovum, is the gamete (reproductive sex cell) produced by most female animals. It is fertilized by the sperm, which is the male gamete. The term "egg" is commonly used to include the acellular structures that surround the ovum....

Sex cells of most animals are either eggs in females (ova) or sperm in males. Eggs have the potential, when fertilized with the sperm of a male, to divide, form an embryo, and develop into an organism. In contrast to sperm, which are small, mobile, and...

Sex cells of most animals are either eggs in females (ova) or sperm in males. Eggs have the potential, when fertilized with the sperm of a male, to divide, form an embryo, and develop into an organism. In contrast to sperm, which are small, mobile, and...

Ovum The ovum, also called the egg, is the microscopic female sex cell. Its nucleus contains the chromosomes, which bear the hereditary material of the female parent. Before birth, the ovaries of a female human contain all the eggs (ova) she will...

(from Latin, ovum: egg) An ovum (plural: ova) is a female sex cell, which when fertilized by SPERMATOZOA has the capacity to develop into a new individual. See also: oocyte;...

An "ovum" (plural ova) is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. The word is derived from Latin, meaning egg or egg cell. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant...