gametes
Synonyms
Phrases with the word
Examples
Also, the pattern of cell division that transforms eukaryotic stem cells into gametes ( sperm cells in males or ova – egg cells – in females) is different from that of the somatic cell division in the cells of the body.
Animals hatnote Hoverflies mating Most sexually reproducing animals spend their lives as diploid organisms, with the haploid stage reduced to single cell gametes.
Because the number of chromosomes is halved during meiosis, gametes can fuse (i.e. fertilization ) to form a diploid zygote that contains two copies of each chromosome, one from each parent.
An individual that produces both types of gametes is a hermaphrodite ; in some cases hermaphrodites are able to self-fertilize and produce offspring on their own, without a second organism.
An individual that produces both types of gametes is called hermaphrodite (a name applicable also to people with one testis and one ovary).
An individual that produces exclusively large gametes is female, and one that produces exclusively small gametes is male.